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ay 


FRONTIER  LIFE, 


OR 


SCENES  AND  ADVENTURES 


Mt|  West. 


BY  FRANCIS  HARDMAK. 


NEWTORK  AM)  AUBURN: 
MILLER,  ORTON  &  MULLIGAN, 

•NewTork:  26  Park  Eo^.— Auburn:  107  Genesee-st 

1855. 


»:-•:..• 


PREPACE. 


IHE  tollowing  "Scenes  and  Adventures"  are 
based  upon  the  German  works  of  Charles 
Sealsfield,  a  writer  fai*  less  known  in  this  coun- 
try than  his  genius  entitles  him  to  be.  I  have 
here  condensed  and  thrown  together  some  of 
their  most  striking  and  interesting  passages ; 
using  much  compression,  aiming  at  rendering 
the  spirit  rather  than  the  letter,  occasionally  — 
when  for  connection's  sake,  or  other  reasons,  it 
appeared  advisable  —  introducing  original  pas- 
sages. I  venture  to  believe  my  rifacimenti  bet- 
ter adapted  to  English  tastes  than  would  be  a 
complete  and  literal  translation  of  any  one  of 
Mr.  Sealfield's  numerous  works. 

M110093 


PREFACE. 


Those  persons  wliom  the  perusal  of  this  vol- 
ume may  render  curious  to  know  more  of  a 
German- American  writer  whose  name  was  long 
a  mystery  in  Germany,  ai*e  referi'ed  to  my  arti- 
cles in  BlacTcwood's  J^dinhurgh  Magazi/ne^  No. 
cccLn.,  and  in  No.  lxxiv.  of  the  Foreign  Quar- 
terly Meview. 

FREDERICK  HARDMAN. 

London,  ^^^^j^^^^ 


CONTENTS 


ADVENTURES  IN  LOUISIANA— 

1  Pass 

I.      THE   CTPBESS  SWAMP,        ....     7 

II.      THE  BLOODT  BLOCK-HOUSE,      ...  36 

ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS  — 

I.      A  SCAMPER  m  THE  PBAIBIE,      .      .    69 

n.      LYNCH  LAW, 119 

in.      TWENTY  TO  ONE, 197 

TWO  NIGHTS  IN  SOUTHERN  MEXICO   149 
A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS  — 

I.      THE  FUGITIVE, 293 

n.      THE  BLOCKADE, 216 

A  TALE  OF  THE  MEXICAN  WAR  -  - 

THE  JAROCHOS, 338 

THE  TEXAN  RANGER'S  BEST  SHOT,  :    369 


9i3be0Hi^es  Ik)  Jloiil3l^)i]a. 


CEAPTEE  I. 

THE    CYPRESS    SWAMP. 

It  was  a  sultry  September  afternoon  in  the  year 
18 — .  My  friend  Carleton  and  myself  had  been  for 
three  days  wandering  in  the  prairies,  and  had  nearly 
filled  our  tin  boxes  and  other  receptacles  with  speci- 
mens of  rare  and  curious  plants.  The  penalty  of  our 
zeal  as  naturalists  had  been  a  complete  roasting 
from  the  sun,  which  had  shot  down  its  rays  during 
the  whole  time  of  our  ramble,  with  an  ardor  only 
to  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  visited  the 
prairies  of  Louisiana.  "What  made  matters  worse, 
our  little  store  of  wine  had  been  nearly  expended ; 
some  taffia,  with  which  we  had  replenished  our  flasks, 
had  also  disappeared ;   and  the  scanty  supplies  of 


8  ADVENTUEES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

water  we  had  beeD  able  to  discover  contained  so 
mucli  vegetable  and  animal  matter,  as  to  be  undrink- 
able,  unless  in  some  way  qualified.  In  this  dilemma, 
we  came  to  a  halt  under  a  clump  of  hickory  trees, 
and  dispatched  Martin,  Carleton's  Acadian  servant, 
upon  a  voyage  of  discovery.  He  had  assured  us  that 
we  'fQust,  ere  lopgv  fall  in  with  some  party  of  Amer- 
c'.icaD^-T^or.Cochon  Yankees,  as  he  called  them  —  who, 
in  spite  oi  the  Ihaitr^d' borne  them  by  the  Acadians 
and  Creoles,  were  daily  becoming  more  numerous 
in  the  country. 

After  waiting,  in  anxious  expectation  of  Martin's 
return,  for  a  full  hour,  during  which  the  air  seemed 
to  grow  more  and  more  sultry,  my  companion 
waxed  impatient. 

"What  can  the  fellow  be  about?"  cried  he.  "  Give 
a  blast  on  the  horn,"  he  added,  handing  me  the  in- 
strument ;  "  I  cannot  sound  it  myself,  for  my  tongue 
cleaves  to  my  palate  from  heat  and  drought." 

I  put  the  horn  to  my  mouth,  and  gave  a  blast ; 
but  the  tones  emitted  were  not  the  clear  echo-awak- 
ening sounds  that  cheer  and  strengthen  the  hunter ; 
they  were  dull  and  short,  as  though  the  air  had 
lost  all  elasticity  and  vibration,  and  by  its  weight 
crushed  back  the  sounds  into  the  horn.    It  was  a 


THE   CTPKESS   SWAMP.  9 

warning  of  some  inscrutable  danger.  "We  gazed 
around  us,  and  saw  that  others  were  not  wanting. 

The  spot  where  we  had  halted  was  on  the  edge 
of  one  of  those  pine  forests  that  extend,  almost  with- 
out interruption,  from  the  hills  of  the  ■C6te  Gel6e 
to  the  Opelousa  mountains,  and  of  a  vast  prairie, 
sprinkled  here  and  there  with  palmetto  fields,  clumps 
of  trees,  and  broad  patches  of  brushwood,  which  ap- 
peared mere  dark  specks  on  the  immense  extent  of 
plain  that  lay  before  us,  covered  with  grass  of  the 
brightest  green,  and  so  long  as  to  reach  up  to  our 
horses'  shoulders.  To  the  right  was  a  plantation  of 
palmettos,  half  a  mile  wide,  bounded  by  a  sort  of 
creek  or  gully,  whose  banks  were  covered  with  gigan- 
tic cypress  trees.  Beyond  this,  more  prairie  and  a 
wood  of  evergreen  oak.  To  the  east,  an  impenetrable 
thicket  of  magnolias,  papaws,  oak  and  bean  trees — 
to  the  north,  the  pine  wood  before  mentioned. 

Such  was  the  rich  landscape  we  had  been  sur- 
rounded by,  one  short  hour  before.  But  now,  on 
looking  around,  we  found  the  scene  changed.  Our 
horizon  was  circumscribed  by  rising  clouds  of  blu- 
ish gray  vapor,  which  approached  •  us  rapidly  from 
the  wind  quarter.  Each  moment  this  fog  thick- 
ened ;  the  sun  no  longer  dazzled  our  eyes  when  we 


10  ADVENTUEES  IN   LOUISIANA. 

gazed  on  it,  but  showed  through  the  mist  like  a 
pale  red  moon ;  the  outlines  of  the  forest  disap- 
peared, vailed  from  our  sight  by  masses  of  vapor; 
and  the  air,  which,  during  the  morning,  had  been 
light  and  elastic,  although  hot,  became  heavier  and 
more  difficult  to  inhale.  The  part  of  the  prairie 
that  was  still  visible,  had  the  appearance  of  a 
narrow,  misty  vale,  inclosed  between  two  mighty 
ranges  of  gray  mountains,  which  the  fog  represented. 
As  we  gazed  around  us  and  beheld  these  strange 
phenomena,  our  eyes  met,  and  we  read  in  each 
other's  countenance  that  embarrassment  which  the 
bravest  and  most  light-hearted  are  apt  to  feel  when 
hemmed  in  by  perils  of  which  they  cannot  conjec- 
ture the  nature. 

"  Fire  off  your  gun,"  said  I  to  Carleton.  I  started 
at  the  alteration  in  my  own  voice.  The  gun  went 
off,  but  the  report  seemed  stifled  by  the  compressed 
atmosphere.  It  did  not  even  alarm  some  water-fowl 
that  were  plashing  and  floundering  in  the  creek  a 
few  hundred  paces  from  us. 

"  Look  at  our  horses ! "  exclaimed  Carleton.  "  They 
are  surely  going  mad."  The  animals  were  evidently 
uneasy.  They  pricked  up  their  ears,  turned  half 
round,  and  gazed  with  startled  eyes  behind  them ; 


THE  CYPBESS  SWAMP.  11 

then  Btrained  their  heads  and  necks  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  the  vapor,  snorting  violently,  and  at 
last  tried  to  break  away  from  the  trees  to  which 
they  were  tethered.  A  short  time  previonsly  they 
had  appeared  much  fatigued,  but  now  they  were  all 
fire  and  impatience. 

"It  is  impossible  to  remain  here,"  said  Carleton. 

"But  whither  shall  we  go?" 

"Whithersoever  our  horses  choose  to  take  us." 

We  untied  the  animals  and  sprang  upon  them. 
Scarcely  were  we  in  the  saddle,  when  they  started 
off  at  a  pace  as  frantic  as  if  a  pack  of  wolves  had 
been  at  their  heels  ;  and,  taking  the  direction  of  the 
creek,  which  ran  between  the  palmetto  plantation 
and  a  cypress  wood,  they  continued  along  its  banks 
at  the  same  wild  gallop.  As  we  advanced,  the  creek 
widened  ;  in  place  of  palmettos,  clumps  of  marsh 
reeds  and  rushes  showed  themselves  here  and  there. 
An  unearthly  stillness  prevailed,  only  broken  now 
and  then  by  the  cry  of  a  wild-goose :  and  even 
that  had  something  strange  and  unnatural  in  its 
sound. 

"What  can  be  the  meaning  of  this?"  cried 
Carleton.  "I  bum  with  heat,  and  yet  have  not 
the  slightest  moisture  on  my  skin.    These  signs  are 


12.  ADVENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

incomprehensible.    ZTor  God's  sake,  sound  the  horn 
again." 

I  did  so,  but  this  time  the  sound  seemed  forced 
back  through  the  horn,  and  died  away  upon  my 
lips.  The  air  was  so  hot  and  parching,  that  our 
horses'  coats,  which,  a  short  time  previously,  had 
been  dripping  wdth  sweat,  were  now  perfectly  dry, 
and  the  hair  plastered  together  as  with  lime;  the 
animals'  tongues  hung  out  of  their  mouths,  and  they 
panted  for  cooler  air. 

"Look  yonder!"  cried  Carleton,  and  he  pointed 
to  the  line  of  the  horizon,  which  had  hitherto  been 
of  gray,  lead-colored  vapor.  It  was  now  reddish  in 
the  south-west  quarter,  and  the  vapor  had  taken 
the  appearance  of  smoke.  At  the  same  time  we 
heard  a  distant  crackling,  like  a  heavy  running-fire 
of  musketry,  repeated  at  short  intervals.  Each  time 
it  was  heard,  our  horses  were  scared  and  trembled. 

The  creek  grew  rapidly  wider,  and  the  ground 
was  so  swampy,  that  we  could  proceed  no  farther. 
Seeing  this,  we  agreed  to  return  to  the  prairie,  and 
to  try  if  it  were  not  cooler  among  the  palmettos. 
But  when  we  came  to  the  place  where  we  had 
crossed  the  creek,  our  horses  refused  to  take  the 
leap  again,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 


TIIE   CYPRESS   SWAMP.  3 

we  at  length  forced  them  over.  All  this  time  the 
redness  in  the  horizon  was  getting  brighter,  and 
the  atmosphere  hotter  and  drier;  the  smoke  had 
spread  itself  over  prairie,  forest,  and  plantations. 
We  continued  retracing  our  steps  as  well  as  we 
could  to  the  spot  where  we  had  halted.  "See 
there,"  said  Carleton;  "not  half  an  hour  ago  those 
reeds  were  as  fresh  and  green  as  if  they  had  just 
sprung  out  of  the  earth,  and  now  look  at  them — 
the  leaves  hang  down  parched  and  curled  by  the 
heat." 

The  whole  prairie,  the  whole  horizon  to  the 
south-west,  was  one  mass  of  dense  smoke,  through 
which  the  sun's  disk  looked  scarcely  brighter  than 
a  paper-lantern.  Behind  the  thick  curtain  which 
thus  concealed  every  thing  from  our  view,  we  heard 
a  loud  hissing,  like  that  of  a  multitude  of  snakes. 
The  smoke  was  stifling  and  unbearable;  our  horses 
again  turned  panting  round,  and  tore  madly  to- 
ward the  creek.  On  reaching  it  we  dismounted, 
but  had  the  greatest  difficulty  to  prevent  them 
from  leaping  into  the  water.  The  streaks  of  red 
to  our  right  became  brighter  and  brighter,  and 
gleamed  through  the  huge,  dark  trunks  of  the  cypress 
trees;  the  crackling  and  hissing  were  louder  than 


.14  Al>VKNTriM<:S    IX    LOL'ISIAXA. 

ever.  Suddenly  the  frightful  truth  flashed  upon  us. 
"The  prairee  is  on  fire!"  exclaimed  Carleton  and 
I,  in  a  breath. 

As  we  uttered  the  words,  there  was  a  loud  rust- 
ling behind  us,  and  a  herd  of  deer  broke  headlong 
through  a  thicket  of  tall  reeds  and  bulrushes,  and 
dashed  up  to  their  necks  into  the  water.  There 
they  remained,  not  fifty  paces  from  us,  little  more 
than  their  heads  above  the  surface,  gazing  at  us 
as  though  imploring  our  help  and  compassion. 
We  fancied  we  could  see  tears  in  the  poor  beasts' 
eyes. 

?  We  looked  behind  us.  On  came  the  pillars  of 
flame,  flickering  and  threatening  through  the  smoke, 
licking  up  all  before  them;  and  preceded  by  gusts 
of  a  wind  so  hot  and  blasting  that  it  seemed  to 
dry  the  very  marrow  in  our  bones.  The  roaring 
of  the  fire  was  now  distinctly  audible,  mingled  with 
hissing,  whistling  sounds,  and  cracking  reports,  as 
of  mighty  trees  falling.  Suddenly  a  bright  flame 
shot  up  through  the  stifling  smoke,  and  immeai- 
ately  afterward  a  sea  of  fire  burst  upon  our  aching 
eyeballs.    The  whole  palmetto  field  was  in  fiames. 

The  heat  was  so  great,  that  we  every  moment 
expected   to  see  our  clothes   take  fire.     Our  horses 


THE  CYPEESS  SWAMP.  15 

dragged  us  still  nearer  to  the  creek,  sprang  into 
the  water,  and  drew  us  down  the  bank  after  them. 
Another  rustling  and  noise  in  the  thicket  of  reeds. 
A  she-bear,  with  her  cubs  at  her  heels,  came  toward 
us;  and  at  the  same  time  a  second  herd  of  deer 
rushed  into  the  water  not  twenty  yards  from  where 
we  were  standing.  We  pointed  our  guns  at  the 
bears ;  they  moved  off  toward  the  deer,  who  remained 
undisturbed  at  their  approach ;  and  there  they  stood, 
bears  and  deer,  not  five  paces  apart,  but  taking  no 
more  notice  of  each  other  than  if  they  had  been 
animals  of  the  same  species.  More  beasts  now 
flocked  to  the  river.  Deer,  wolves,  foxes,  horses — all 
came  in  crowds  to  seek  shelter  in  one  element  from 
the  fury  of  another.  Most  of  them,  however,  went 
farther  up  the  creek,  where  it  took  a  northeasterly 
direction,  and  widened  into  a  sort  of  lake.  Those 
that  had  first  arrived  followed  the  new-comers,  and 
we  did  the  same. 

All  of  a  sudden  we  heard  the  baying  of  hounds. 
"Hurra!  there  are  dogs;  men  must  be  near."  A 
volley  from  a  dozen  rifles  was  the  answer  to  our 
exclamation.  The  shots  were  fired  not  two  hundred 
yards  from  us,  yet  we  saw  nothing  of  those  who  fired 
them.     The  wild  beasts  around   us  trembled  and 


16  ADVENTUEES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

crouched  before  this  new  danger,  but  did  not  move  a 
step.  We  ourselves  were  standing  in  the  midst  of 
them  up  to  our  waists  in  water.  "Who  goes  there?" 
we  shouted.  Another  volley,  and  this  time  not  a 
hundred  yards  off.  We  saw  the  flashes  of  the  pieces, 
and  heard  voices  talking  in  a  dialect  compounded  of 
French  and  Indian.  We  perceived  that  we  had  to 
do  with  Acadians.  A  third  volley,  and  the  bullets 
whistled  about  our  ears.  It  w^s  getting  past  a  joke. 
"Halt!"  shouted  we;  "stop  firing  till  you  see  what 
you  are  firing  at."  There  was  a  dead  silence  for  a 
moment,  then  a  burst  of  savage  laughter.  "Fire! 
fire!"  cried  two  or  three  voices. 

"If  you  fire,"  cried  I,  "look  out  for  yourselves,  for 
we  shall  do  the  same.    Have  a  care  what  you  do." 

"Morbleu!  Sacre!"  roared  half  a  score  of  voices. 
"Who  is  that  who  dares  to  give  us  orders?  Fire  on 
the  dogs!" 

"K  you  do,  we  return  it." 

^^ Sacre r"*  screamed  the  savages.  "They  are  gen- 
tlemen from  the  towns.  Their  speech  betrays  them. 
Shoot  them — the  dogs,  the  spies!  What  do  they 
want  in  the  prairie  ? " 

"Your  blood  be  on  your  own  heads!"  cried  I. 
And,  with  the  feelings  of  desperate  men,  we  leveled 


THE   CTPBESS   SWAMP.  17 

our  guns  in  the  direction  m  whicli  we  had  seen 
the  flashes  of  the  last  volley.  At  that  moment — 
*'Halt!  "What  is  here?"  shouted  a  stentorian  voice 
close  to  us. 

"  Cease  firing,  or  you  are  dead  men  I "  cried  five  or 
six  other  voices. 

^''Sacre!  ce  sont  des  Americaina^''  muttered  the 
Acadians. 

"Mousieur  Carleton!"  cried  a  voice. 

"Here!"  replied  my  friend.  A  boat  shot  out  of 
the  smoke,  between  us  and  our  antagonists.  Carle- 
ton's  servant  was  in  it.  The  next  moment  we  were 
surrounded  by  a  score  of  Acadians  and  half-a-dozen 
Americans. 

It  appeared  that  the  Acadians,  so  soon  as  they 
perceived  the  prairie  to  be  on  fire,  had  got  into  a 
boat  and  descended  a  creek  that  flowed  into  the 
Chicot  creek,  on  which  we  now  were.  The  beasts 
of  the  forest  and  prairie,  flying  to  the  water,  found 
themselves  inclosed  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  two 
creeks,  and  their  retreat  being  cut  off  by  the  fire,  they 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Acadians — wild,  half-savage 
fellow8,'who.  slaughtered  them  in  a  profusion,  and  with 
a  brutality,  that  excited  our  disgust ;  a  feeling  which 
the  Americans  seemed  to  share. 


18  ADVENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

"Well,  stranger."  said  one  of  the  latter,  an  old 
man,  to  Carleton,  "  do  you  go  with  them  Acadians,  or 
come  with  us?" 

"Who  are  you,  my  friends?" 

"Friends!"  repeated  the  Yankee,  shaking  his  head, 
"your  friendships  are  soon  made.  Friends,  indeed ! 
We  ain't  that  yet;  but  if  you  be  minded  to  come 
with  us,  well  and  good%" 

"I  met  these  American  gentlemen,"  now  put  in 
Martin,  "  and  when  they  heard  that  you  had  lost  your 
way,  and  were  out  of  provisions,  they  were  so  good 
as  to  come  and  seek  you." 

"You  be  n't  much  used  to  the  prairie,  I  reckon?" 
observed  the  American  who  had  spoken  before. 

"ITo,  indeed,  my  friend,"  said  I. 

"I  told  you  a'ready,"  replied  the  man,  with  some 
degree  of  pride,  "  we  ain't  your  friends ;  but  if 
you  choose  to  accept  American  hospitality,  you're 
welcome." 

We  glanced  at  the  Acadians,  who  were  still  firing, 
and  dragging  the  beasts  they  slaughtered  into  their 
boat  and  to  the  shore.  They  looked  like  perfect  sav- 
ages, and  there  was  little  temptation  to  seek  guidance 
or  assistance  at  their  hands. 

"K  it's  agreeable  to  you,  we  will  accompany  you," 


THE   OYPEESS   SWAMP.  19 

said  I  to  the  American,  making-a  step  toward  the 
boat.  We  were  eager  to  be  off,  for  the  heat  and 
smoke  were  unbearable.  The  Yankee  answered 
neither  yes  nor  no.  His  attention  was  engrossed  by 
the  proceedings  of  the  Acadians. 

"They're  worse  than  Injuns,"  said  he  to  a  young 
man  standing  by  him.  "They  shoot  more  in  an  hour 
than  they  could  eat  in  a  year,  in  their  tarnation 
French  wastefulness." 

"I've  a  notion  o'  makin'  'em  leave  off,"  replied  the 
young  man. 

"The  country's  theirs,  or  their  master's,  at  least," 
rejoined  the  other.  "I  reckon  it's  no  business  of. 
ours." 

This  dialogue  was  carried  on  with  the  greatest 
possible  degree  of  drawling  deliberation,  and  under 
circumstances  in  which  certainly  none  but  a  Yankee 
would  have  thought  of  wasting  time  in  words.  A 
prairie  twenty  miles  long  and  ten  broad,  and  a  couple 
of  miles  of  palmetto  ground,  aU  in  a  blaze — the 
flames  drawing  nearer  every  minute,  and  having  in 
some  places  already  reached  up  to  the  shores  of  the 
creek.  On  the  other  side  a  couple  of  dozen  wild 
Acadians  were  firing  right  and  left,  without  paying 
the  least    attention  where  or  whom    their    bullets 


20  ADVENTUEES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

struck.  Carleton  and  myself  were  standing  up  to 
our  waists  in  water,  but  still  the  Americans  chatted 
together  as  unconcernedly  as  if  they  had  been  seated 
under  the  roofs  of  their  own  block-houses. 

"Do  you  live  far  from  here?"  said  I  at  length  to 
the  Yankee,  rather  impatiently. 

"Not  so  far  as  I  sometimes  wish,"  answered  he, 
with  a  contemptuous  glance  at  the  Acadians,  "but 
far  enough  to  get  you  an  appetite  for  your  supper,  if 
you  ain't  got  one  already."  And  taking  a  thin  roll 
of  tobacco  out  of  his  pocket,  he  bit  off  a  piece  of  it, 
laid  his  hands  upon  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle,  leant  his 
chin  upon  his  hands,  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
all  about  us.  To  men  in  our  situation,  such  apathy 
was  intolerable. 

"My  good  man,"  said  I,  "will  you  put  your  hos- 
pitable offer  into  execution,  and  take — " 

I  could  not  continue,  for  I  was  suffocated  with  the 
heat  and  smoke.  The  water  of  the  creek  was  actually 
getting  warm. 

"I've  a  notion,"  said  the  Yankee,  with  his  usual 
drawl,  and  apparently  only  just  perceiving  our 
distress,  "I've  a  notion  we  had  better  be  movin'  out 
o'  the  way  o'  the  fire.  ITow,  strangers,  in  with 
you."    And  he  helped  Carleton  and  myself  into  the 


THE  CYPRESS   SWAMP.  21 

boat,  where  we  lay  down,  fainting  from  heat  and 
exhaustion. 

"When  we  recovered  a  little,  we  found  ourselves  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  the  old  Yankee  standing 
bj  us,  with  a  bottle  of  whiskey  in  his  hand,  which  he 
invited  us  to  taste.  "We  felt  better  for  the  cordial 
and  able  to  look  around  us. 

Before  us  lay  an  apparently  interminable  cypress 
swamp.  Behind  us  was  a  sheet  of  water,  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  twp  creeks,  and  at  present 
overhung  by  a  mass  of  smoke  which  concealed  the 
horizon  from  our  view.  From  time  to  time  there 
was  a  burst  of  flame  that  lit  up  the  swamp,  causing 
the  cypress  trees  to  look  as  if  they  grew  out  of  a  sea 
of  fire. 

"Come,"  said  the  old  Yankee,  "we  must  get  on. 
It  is  near  sunset,  and  we  have  far  to  go." 

"And  which  way  lies  our  road?"  I  asked. 

"Across  the  cypress  swamp,  unless  you'd  rather  go 
round  it." 

"The  shortest  road  is  the  best,"  said  Carleton. 

"The  shortest  road  is  the  best!"  repeated  the 
Yankee  contemptuously,  and  turned  to  his  compan- 
ions. "Spoken  like  a  Britisher.  "Well,  he  shall  have 
luB  own  way,  and  the  more  so  that  I  believe  it  as 


22  ADVENTURES   IN   LOUISIANA. 

good  a  one  as  the  other.  James,"  added  he,  turning 
to  one  of  the  men,  "you  go  further  down,  through 
Snapping  Turtle  Swamp ;  we  will  cross  here." 

"  And  our  horses  ? "  said  I. 

"They  are  grazing  in  the  rushes.  They'll  be  took 
care  of.  We  shall  have  rain  to-night,  and  to-morrow 
they  may  come  round  without  singeing  a  hoof." 

I  had  found  myself  once  or  twice  upon  the  borders 
of  the  swamp  that  now  lay  before  us,  but  had  always 
considered  it  impenetrable,  and  I  did  not  understand, 
as  I  gazed  into  its  gloomy  depths,  how  we  could 
possibly  cross  it. 

"Is  there  any  beaten  path  or  road  through  the 
swamp?"  inquired  I  of  the  old  man. 

"Path  or  road!  Do  you  take  it  for  a  gentleman's 
park?  There's  the  path  that  natur'  has  made."  And 
he  sprang  upon  the  trunk  of  a  tree  covered  with  moss 
and  creepers,  which  rose  out  of  the  vast  depth  of  mud. 

"J?'^/'^ '5  the  path,"  said  he. 

"Then  we  will  wait  and  come  round  with  our 
horses,"  I  replied.    "Where  shall  we  find  them?" 

"As  you  please,  stranger.  We  shall  cross  the 
swamp.  Only,  if  you  can't  do  like  your  horses, 
and  sup  off  bulrushes,  you  are  likely  to  fast  the  next 
twenty-four  hours." 


THE  CYPBESS  SWAMP.  23 

"And  why  so?  There  is  game  and  wild-fowl  for 
the  shooting." 

"!N^o  doubt  there  is,  if  you  can  eat  them  raw,  like 
the  Injuns.  Where  will  you  find,  within  two  miles 
round,  a  square  foot  of  dry  land  to  makg  your 
fire  on?" 

To  say  the  truth,  we  did  not  altogether  like  the 
company  we  had  fallen  into.  These  Yankee  squatters 
bore  in  general  but  an  indifiercnt  character.  They 
were  said  to  fear  neither  God  nor  man,  to  trust 
entirely  to  their  ax  and  their  rifle,  and  to  be  little 
scrupulous  in  questions  of  property;  in  short,  to 
be  scarce  less  wild  and  dangerous  than  the  Indians 
themselves. 

The  Yankee  who  had  hitherto  acted  as  spokesman, 
and  who  seemed  to  be  in  some  way  or  other  the 
chief  of  the  party,  was  a  man  apparently  near  sixty 
years  of  age,  upward  of  six  feet  high,  thin  in  person, 
but  with  bone  and  muscle  indicative  of  great  strengtn. 
His  features  were  keen  and  sharp;  his  eye  like  a 
falcon's ;  his  bearing  and  manners  spoke  an  exalted 
opinion  of  himself,  and  (at  least  as  far  as  ye  were 
concerned)  a  tolerable  degree  of  contempt  for  others. 
His  dress  consisted  of  a  jacket  of  skins,  secured 
round  the  waist  by  a  girdle  in  which  was  stuck  a 


24  ADVENTUEES  m  LOUISIANA. 

long  knife;  leather  breeches,  a  straw  hat  without  a 
brim,  and  moccasins.  His  companions  were  similarly 
accoutered. 

"Where  is  Martin?"  cried  Carleton. 

"Do  you  mean  the  Acadian  lad  who  brought  us 
to  you." 

"The  same." 

The  Yankee  pointed  toward  the  smoke.  "Yonder, 
no  doubt,  with  his  countrymen;  but  I  reckon  their 
infernal  hunt  is  over.    I  hear  no  more  shots." 

"Then  we  will  go  to  him.  But  where  are  our 
horses?" 

"I've  a  notion,"  said  one  of  the  younger  men, 
"the  stranger  don't  rightly  know  what  he  wants. 
Your  horses  are  grazing  a  mile  off.  You  would  not 
have  had  us  make  the  poor  brutes  swim  through 
the  creek  tied  to  the  stem  of  the  boat?  'Lijah  is 
with  them." 

"And  what  will  he  do  with  them?" 

"Joel  is  going  back  with  the  boat,  and  when  the 
fire  is  out  he  will  bring  them  round,"  said  the  elder 

Yankees   "  You  don't  suppose — ?"  added  he He 

left  the  sentence  unfinished,  but  a  smile  of  scornful 
meaning  flitted  over  his  features. 

I  looked   at  Carleton.     He  nodded.     "We  will 


THE  CYPRESS   SWAMP.  25 

go  with  you,"  said  I,  "and  trust  entirely  to  your 
guidance." 

"You  do  well,"  was  the  brief  reply.  "Joel," 
added  he,  turning  to  one  of  the  young  men,  "  where 
are  the  torches?     We  shall  want  them." 

"Torches?"  exclaimed  I. 

The  Yankee  gave  me  a  look,  as  much  as  to  say — 
You  tnust  meddle  with  every  thing,  must  you? 
"Yes,"  replied  he;  "And  if  you  had  ten  lives,  it 
would  be  as  much  as  they  are  all  worth  to  enter  this 
swamp  without  torches."  So  saying,  he  struck  fire, 
and  selecting  a  couple  of  pine  splinters  from  several 
lying  in  the  boat,  he  lighted  them,  doing  every  thing 
with  such  extraordinary  deliberation,  and  so  oddly, 
that  in  spite  of  our  unpleasant  situation,  we  could 
scarcely  help  laughing.  Meantime  the  boat  pushed 
off  with  two  men  in  it,  leaving  Carleton,  myself,  the 
old  man,  and  another  American,  standing  at  the 
edge  of  the  swamp. 

"Follow  me,  step  by  step,  and  as  if  you  were 
treading  on  eggs,"  said  our  leader;  "and  you,  Jona- 
than, have  an  eye  to  the  strangers,  and  don't  wait 
till  they  are  up  to  their  necks  in  the  mud  to  pick 
them  out  of  it." 

"We  did  not  feel  much  comforted  by  this  speech ; 
2 


26  ADVENTUEES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

but,  mustering  all  our  courage,  we  strode  on  after 
our  plain-spoken  guide. 

We  had  proceeded  but  a  very  short  distance  into 
the  swamp  before  we  found  out  the  use  of  the  torches. 
The  huge  trunks  of  the  cypress-trees,  which  stood 
four  or  five  yards  asunder,  shot  up  to  a  height  of 
fifty  feet,  entirely  free  from  branches,  which  then, 
however,  spread  out  at  right  angles  to  the  stem, 
making  the  trees  appear  like  gigantic  umbrellas,  and 
covering  the  whole  morass  with  an  impenetrable  roof, 
through  which  not  even  a  sunbeam  could  find  a  pas- 
sage. On  looking  behind  us,  we  saw  the  daylight  at 
the  entrance  of  the  swamp,  as  at  the  mouth  of  a  vast 
cavern.  The  further  we  went  the  thicker  became  the 
air  ;  and  at  last  the  effluvia  was  so  stifling  and  pesti- 
lential, that  the  torches  burnt  pale  and  dim,  and 
more  than  once  threatened  to  go  out. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  muttered  our  guide  to  himself,  "  a  night 
passed  in  this  swamp  would  leave  a  man  ague-struck 
for  the  "est  of  his  days.  A  night — ay,  an  hour  would 
do  it,  if  your  pores  were  ever  so  little  open  ;  but  now 
there's  no  danger;  the  prairie  fire's  good  for  that; 
dries  the  sweat  and  closes  the  pores." 

He  went  on  conversing  thus  with  himself,  but  still 
striding  forward,  throwing  his  torchlight  on  each  log 


THE   CYPRESS   SWAMP.  27 

or  tree-trunk,  and  trying  its  solidity  witli  his  foot 
before  he  trusted  his  weight  upon  it — doing  all  this 
with  a  dexterity  and  speed  that  proved  his  familiarity, 
with  these  dangerous  paths. 

"Keep  close  to  me,"  said  he  to  us,  "but  make 
yourselves  light — as  light,  at  least,  as  Britishers  can 

make  themselves.     Hold   your  breath,  and ha  I 

what  is  that  log?  Hollo,  IN'athan,"  continued  he  to 
himself,  "what's  come  to  you,  man?  Don't  you 
know  a  sixteen  foot  alligator  from  a  tree?" 

He  had  stretched  out  his  foot,  but,  fortunately, 
before  setting  it  down,  he  poked  what  he  took  for  a 
log  with  the  butt  of  his  gun.  The  supposed  block  of 
wood  gave  way  a  little,  and  the  old  squatter,  throw- 
ing himself  back,  was  within  an  ace  of  pushing  me 
into  the  swamp. 

"Aha,  friend!"  said  he,  not  in  the  least  discon- 
certed "you  thought  to  sarcumvent  honest  folk  with 
your  devilry  and  cunnin '." 

"What  is  the  matter?"  asked  I. 

"Not  much  the  matter,"  he  replied,  drawing  his 
knife  from  its  sheath.  "  Only  an  alligator  :  there  it 
is  again." 

And  in  the  place  of  the  log,  which  had  disap- 
peared, the  jaws  of  a  huge  alligator  gaped  before  us. 


28  ADVENTURES  IN  LOIHSIAKA. 

I  raised  my  gun  to  my  shoulder.  The  Yankee  seized 
my  arm. 

"Don't  fire,  whispered  he.  "Don't  fire,  so  long 
as  you  can  help  it.  We  ain't  alone  here.  This 
will  do  as  well,"  he  added,  as  he  stooped  down,  and 
drove  his  long  knife  into  the  alligator's  eye.  The 
monster  gave  a  frightful  howl,  and  lashed  violently 
with  its  tail,  besprinkling  us  with  the  black,  slimy 
mud  of  the  swamp. 

"Take  that!"  said  the  squatter  with  a  grim  smile, 
"and  that,  and  that!"  stabbing  the  brute  repeatedly 
between  the  neck  and  the  ribs,  while  it  writhed  and 
snapped  furiously  at  him.  Then  wiping  his  knife, 
he  stuck  it  in  his  belt,  and  looked  keenly  and 
cautiously  around  him. 

"I've  a  notion  there  must  be  a  tree  trunk  here- 
away ;  it  ain't  the  first  time  I've  followed  this  track. 
There  it  is,  but  a  good  six  foot  off."  And  so  saying, 
he  gave  a  spring,  and  alighted  in  safety  on  the 
stepping  place. 

"Have  a  care,  man,"  cried  I.  "There  is  water 
there.    I  see  it  glitter." 

"Pooh,  water!  What  you  call  water  is  snakes 
Come  on." 

I  hesitated,  and  a  shudder  came  over  me.     The 


a^ 


THE   CTPEESS  SWAMP.  S9 

leap,  as  regarded  distance,  was  a  trifling  one,  but  it 
was  over  an  almost  bottomless  chasm,  full  of  the 
foulest  mud,  on  which  the  moccasin  snakes,  the 
deadliest  of  American  reptiles,  were  sw^arming. 

"Come  on!" 

^Necessity  lent  me  strength,  and,  pressing  my  left 
foot  firmly  against  the  log  on  which  I  stood,  and 
which  each  moment  sank  with  our  weight  deeper 
into  the  soft  slimy  ground,  I  sprang  across.  Carleton 
followed  me. 

"Well  done!"  cried  the  old  man.  "Courage,  and 
a  couple  more  such  leaps,  and  we  shall  be  getting 
over  the  worst  of  it." 

We  pushed  on,  steadily  but  slowly,  never  setting 
our  foot  on  a  log  till  we  had  ascertained  its  solidity 
with  the  butts  of  our  guns.  The  cypress  swamp 
extended  four  or  five  miles  along  the  shores  of  the 
creek :  it  was  a  deep  lake  of  black  mud,  covered 
over  and  disguised  by  a  deceitful  bright  green  vail 
of  creeping  plants  and  mosses,  which  had  spread 
themselves  in  their  rank  luxuriance  over  its  whole 
surface,  and  over  the  branches  and  trunks  of  the 
trees  that  were  scattered  about  it.  These  latter 
were  not  placed  with  any  very  great  regularity,  but 
had  yet  been  evidently  arranged  by  the  hand  of  man 


80  ADVENTUEES  IN   LOUISIANA. 

"There  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  path  made 
here,"  said  I  to  our  guide,  "for — " 

"  Silence ! "  interrupted  he,  in  a  low  tone  ;  "  silence, 
for  your  life,  till  we  are  on  firm  ground  again. 
Don't  mind  the  snakes,"  added  he,  as  the  torch-light 
revealed  some  enormous  ones  lying  coiled  up  in  the 
moss  and  lianas  close  to  us.     "Follow  me  closely." 

But  at  the  very  moment  that  I  stretched  forward 
my  foot,  and  was  about  to  place  it  in  the  print  that 
his  had  left,  the  hideous  jaw  of  an  alligator  was  sud- 
denly stretched  over  the  tree-trunk,  not  twelve  inches 
from  my  leg,  and  the  creature  snapped  at  me  so 
suddenly,  that  I  had  but  just  time  to  fire  my  gun 
into  his  glittering,  lizard-like  eye.  .  The  monster 
bounded  back,  uttered  a  sound  between  a  bellow  and 
a  groan,  and  striking  wildly  about  him  in  the  morass, 
disappeared. 

The  American  looked  around  when  I  fired,  and  an 
approving  smile  played  about  his  mouth  as  he  said 
something  to  me  which  I  did  not  hear,  owing  to  the 
infernal  uproar  that  now  arose  on  all  sides  of  us,  and 
at  first  completely  deafened  me. 

Thousands,  tens  of  thousands,  of  birds  and  reptiles, 
alligators,  enormous  bull-frogs,  night-owls,  ahingas, 
herons,  whose  dwellings  were  in   the  mud   of  the 


THE   OYPEESS   SWAMP.  51 

swamp,  or  on  its  leafy  roof,  now  lifted  up  their  voices, 
bellowing,  hooting,  shrieking,  and  groaning.  Issuing 
from  the  obscene  retreats  in  which  they  had  hitherto 
lain  hidden,  the  alligators  raised  their  hideons  snouts 
out  of  the  green  coating  of  the  swamp,  gnashing 
their  teeth,  and  straining  toward  us,  while  the  owls 
and  other  birds  circled  round  our  heads,  flapping 
and  striking  us  with  their  wings  as  they  passed.  "We 
drew  our  knives  and  endeavored  to  defend  at  least 
our  heads  and  eyes ;  but  all  was  in  vain  against  the 
multitude  of  enemies  that  surrounded  us;  and  the 
unequal  combat  could  not  possibly  have  lasted  long, 
when  suddenly  a  shot  was  fired,  followed  immediately 
by  another.  The  effect  they  produced  was  magical. 
The  growls  and  cries  of  rage  and  fury  were  ex- 
changed for  howls  of  fear  and  complaint :  the  alliga- 
tors withdrew  gradually  into  their  native  mud ;  the 
birds  flew  in  wider  circles  around  us;  the  unclean 
multitude  were  in  full  retreat.  By  degrees  the  va- 
rious noises  died  away.  But  our  torches  had  gone 
out,  and  all  around  us  was  as  black  as  pitch. 

"In  God's  name,  are  you  there,  old  man?"  asked  I. 

"What!  still  alive?"  he  replied,  with  a  laugh  ihat 
jarred  unpleasantly  upon  my  nerves,  "and  the  other 
Britisher  too  ?     I  told  ye  we  were  not  alone.    These 


32  ADVENTUEES   IK  LOUISIANA. 

brutes  defend  themselves  if  you  attack  them  upon 
their  own  ground,  and  a  single  shot  is  sufficient  to 
bring  them  about  one's  ears.  But  when  they  see 
you're  in  earnest,  they  soon  get  tired  of  it,  and  a 
couple  more  shots  sent  among  them  generally  drive 
them  away  again ;  for  they  are  but  senseless  squealin' 
creturs,  after  all." 

While  he  spoke,  the  old  man  struck  fire,  and  lit  one 
of  the  torches. 

"Luckily  we  have  rather  better  footing  here,"  con- 
tinued he.  "And  now,  forward  quickly;  for  the  sun 
is  set,  and  we  shall  have  some  way  to  go." 

And  again  he  led  the  march  with  a  skill  and  confi- 
dence in  himself  which  each  moment  increased  our 
reliance  upon  him.  After  proceeding  in  this  manner 
for  about  half  an  hour,  we  saw  a  pale  light  glimmer 
in  the  distance. 

'*Five  minutes  more  and  your  troubles  are  over  5 
but  now  is  the  time  to  be  cautious,  for  it  is  on  the 
borders  of  these  cursed  swamps  the  alligators  best 
love  to  lie." 

In  my  eagerness  to  find  myself  once  more  on  dry 
land,  I  scarcely  heard  the  Yankee's  words  ;  and  as 
the  stepping  places  w^ere  now  near  together,  I 
hastened  on,  and  got  a  little  in  front  of  the  party. 


THE   CYPRESS   SWAMP.  38 

Suddenly  I  felt  a  log,  on  which  I  had  just  placed  my 
foot,  give  way  under  me.  I  had  scarcely  time  to 
call  out  "Halt ! "  when  I  was  up  to  the  armpits  in  the 
swamp,  with  every  prospect  of  sinking  deeper. 

"You  wiU  hurry  on,"  said  the  old  man,  with  a 
laugh ;  and  at  the  same  time  springing  forward  he 
caught  me  by  the  hair.  "Take  warning  for  the 
future,"  added  he,  as  he  helped  me  out  of  the  mud ; 
"  and  look  there  I "  I  did  look,  and  saw  half  a  dozen 
alligators  writhing  and  crawling  in  the  noxious  slime 
within  a  few  yards  of  us.  I  felt  a  sickening  sensa- 
tion, and  for  a  moment  I  could  not  utter  a  word :  the 
Yankee  produced  his  whiskey-flask. 

"Take  a  swallow  of  this,"  said  he  ;  "but  no,  better 
wait  till  we  are  out  of  the  swamp.  Stop  a  little  till 
your  heart  beats  quieter.  So,  you  are  better  now. 
When  you've  made  two  or  three  such  journeys 
with  old  Nathan,  you'll  bo  quite  another  man. 
Now — forward  again." 

A  few  minutes  later  we  were  out  of  the  swamp 
and  looking  over  a  field  of  palmettos  that  waved  and 
rustled  in  the  moonbeams.  The  air  was  fresh,  and 
once  more  we  breathed  freely. 

"Now,"  said  our  guide,  "a  dram,  and  then  in  half 

an  hour  we  are  at  the  Salt  Lick." 
2* 


34  ADVENTURES   IN   LOUISIANA. 

"Where?"  asked! 

"At  the  Salt  Lick,  to  shoot  a  deer  or  two  for 
supper.    Hallo !  what  is  that  ? " 

"A  thunderclap." 

"A  thunderclap!  You  have  heard  but  few  of 
them  in  Louisiana,  I  guess,  or  you  would  know  the 
difference  betwixt  thunder  and  the  crack  of  a  back- 
woodsman's rifle.  To  be  sure,  yonder  oak  wood  has 
an  almighty  echo.  That's  James's  rifle  —  he  has 
shot  a  stag. —  There 's  another  shot." 

This  time  it  was  evidently  a  rifle-shot,  but  re- 
echoed like  thunder  from  the  depths  of  the  immense 
forest. 

"We  must  let  them  know  that  we  're  still  in  whole 
skins,  and  not  in  the  maw  of  an  alligator,"  said  the 
old  man,  who  had  reloaded  his  rifle,  and  now  fired 
it  off. 

In  half  an  hour  we  were  at  Salt  Lick,  where  we 
found  our  guide's  two  sons  busy  disemboweling  and 
cutting  up  a  fine  buck,  an  occupation  in  which  they 
were  so  engrossed  that  they  hardly  noticed  our  ar- 
rival. We  sat  down,  not  a  little  glad  to  repose  after 
the  fatigues  and  dangers  we  had  gone  through. 
When  hind  and  fore  quarters,  breast  and  back,  w^ere 
all  divided  in  right  huntsman-like  style,  the  young 


THE  CYPRESS   SWAMP.  8S 

men  looked  at  their  father.  "Will  yon  take  a  bite 
and  sup  here?"  said  the  latter,  addressing  Carleton 
and  myself,  "or  will  you  wait  till  we  get  home?" 

"How  far  is  there  still  to  go?" 

"How  far?  With  a  good  trotting  horse,  and  a 
better  road,  three  quarters  of  an  hour  would  bring 
you  there.    You  may  reckon  it  a  couple  of  hours." 

"Then  we  should  prefer  eating  something  here." 

"As  you  will." 

Without  more  words,  or  loss  of  time,  a  haunch  was 
cut  off  one  of  the  hind-quarters ;  dry  leaves  and 
branches  were  collected;  and  in  one  minute  a  fire 
blazed  brightly,  the  joint  turning  before  it  on  a 
wooden  spit.  In  half  an  hour  the  party  was  collected 
round  a  roast  haunch  of  venison,  which,  although 
eaten  without  bread  or  any  of  the  usual  condiments, 
certainly  appeared  to  us  the  very  best  we  ever  had 
tasted. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BLOODY  BLOOK-HOUSE. 

Supper  over,  and  clenched  by  a  pull  at  ITatban's 
whisky-flask,  we  prepared  for  departure.  The  Amer 
icans  threw  the  choicest  part  of  the  buck  over  their 
shoulders,  the  old  squatter  again  took  the  lead,  and 
we  resumed  our  march,  first  across  a  prairie,  then 
through  a  wood,  which  was  succeeded  by  a  sort 
of  thicket,  upon  whose  branches  and  thorny  shrubs 
we  left  numerous  fragments  of  our  dress.  We  had 
walked  several  miles  almost  in  silence,  when  IS^athan 
suddenly  came  to  a  halt,  and  let  the  but-end  of  his 
rifle  fall  heavily  on  the  gi'ound.  I  took  the  opportu- 
nity to  ask  him  where  we  were. 

"In  Louisiana,"  replied  he,  "between  the  Red 
River,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Mississippi ;  on 
French  ground,  and  yet  in  a  country  where  French 
power  is  worth  little.  Do  you  see  that?"  added  he 
suddenly,  seizing  my  arm,  and  pulling  me  a  few 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  37 

paces  aside,  while  he  pointed  to  a  dark  object  which, 
at  that  distance  and  in  the  moonlight,  had  the 
appearance  of  an  earthen  wall.  "Do  you  know  what 
that  is?"  repeated  the  squatter. 

"An  Indian  grave,  perhaps,"  replied  I. 

"A  grave  it  is,"  was  the  answer,  "but  not  of  the 
redskins.  As  brave  a  backwoodsman  as  ever  crossed 
the  Mississippi  lies  buried  there.  You  are  not 
altogether  wrong,  though.  I  believe  it  was  once  an 
Indian  mound." 

We  had  walked  on  while  he  spoke,  and  I  now  dis- 
tinguished a  hillock  or  mound  of  earth,  with  nearly 
perpendicular  sides,  surmounted  by  a  block-house, 
formed  of  unhewn  cypress  trunks,  of  a  solidity  and 
thickness  upon  which  four-and-twenty-pounders  would 
have  had  some  diflSculty  in  making  an  impression. 
Its  roof  rose  about  ten  feet  above  a  palisade  inclosing 
the  building,  and  consisting  of  stout  saplings  sharp- 
ened at  the  top,  and  stuck  in  the  ground  at  a  very 
short  distance  from  each  other,  being,  moreover, 
strengthened  and  bound  together  with  wattles  and 
branches.  The  building  had  evidently  been  con- 
structed more  as  a  place  of  refuge  and  defense  than 
as  a  habitual  residence. 

A  ladder  was  now  lowered,  by  which  we  ascended 


do  ADVENTXTRES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

to  the  top  of  the  mound.  There  was  a  small  door  in 
the  palisades,  which  Nathan  opened,  and  passed 
through,  we  following. 

Tlie  block-house  was  of  equal  length  and  breadth, 
about  forty  feet  square.  On  entering  it  we  found 
nothing  but  the  bare  walls,  with  the  exception  of  a 
wide  chimney  of  sun-baked  brick,  and  in  one  corner 
a  large  wooden  slab  partly  imbedded  in  the  ground. 

"Don't  tread  upon  that  board,"  said  the  old  man 
solemnly,  as  we  approached  the  slab  to  examine  it, 
"it  is  holy  ground." 

"How  holy  ground?" 

"There  lies  beneath  it  as  brave  a  fellow  as  ever 
handled  ax  or  rifle.  He  it  was  built  this  block-house 
and  christened  it  the  Bloody  Block-house ;  and  bloody 
it  proved  to  be  to  him.  But  you  shall  hear  more  of 
it  if  you  like.  You  shall  hear  how  six  American 
rifles  were  too  many  for  ninety  French  and  Spanish 
muskets. 

Carleton  and  I  shook  our  heads  incredulously.  The 
Yankee  signed  us  to  follow  him,  led  us  out  of  the 
block-house  and  through  the  stockade  to  a  grassy 
projection  of  the  hillock. 

"Ninety  French  and  Spanish  muskets!"  repeated 
he  in  a  firm  voice,  and  weighing  on  each  word. 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  99* 

'•  Opposed  to  them  were  Asa  I^olins,  with  his  three 
brothers,  his  brother-in-law,  a  cousin,  and  their  wives. 
He  fell  like  a  brave  American  as  he  was,  but  not 
alone,  for  the  dead  bodies  of  thirty  foes  lay  around 
the  block-house  when  he  died.  They  are  buried 
there,"  added  he,  pointing  to  a  row  of  cotton-trees  a 
short  distance  off,  which,  in  the  pale  moonlight,  might 
have  been  taken  for  the  specters  of  the  departed; 
"Under  those  cotton-trees  they  fell,  and  there  they 
are  buried." 

The  old  squatter  remained  for  a  short  space  in  his 
favorite  attitude,  his  hands  crossed  on  his  rifle,  and 
his  chin  resting  upon  them.  He  seemed  to  be  sum- 
moning up  the  recollections  of  a  time  long  gone  by. 
We  did  not  care  to  interrupt  him.  The  stillness  of 
the  night,  the  light  of  the  moon  and  stars,  that  gave 
the  prairie  lying  before  us  the  appearance  of  a  silvery 
sea,  the  somber  forest  on  either  side  of  the  block- 
house, of  which  the  edges  only  were  lighted  up  by 
the  moonbeams,  the  vague  allusions  our  guide  had 
made  to  some  fearful  scene  of  strife  and  slaughter 
that  had  been  enacted  in  this  now  peaceful  glade — all 
these  circumstances  worked  upon  our  imaginations, 
and  we  felt  unwilling  to  break  the  silence  which 
added  to  the  impressive  beauty  of  the  forest  scene. 


40  ADVENTUEES   IN   LOUISIANA. 

"Did  you  ever  float  down  the  Mississippi?"  asked 
Nathan  abruptly.  As  he  spoke  he  sat  down  upon  the 
bank,  and  made  a  sign  to  us  to  sit  beside  him. 
"Did  you  ever  float  down  the  Mississippi?" 
"  Ko ;  we  came  up  it  from  New  Orleans  hither." 
"That  is  nothing;  the  stream  is  not  half  so  danger- 
ous there  as  above  Natchez.  We  came  down:  six 
men,  four  women,  and  twice  as  many  children,  all 
the  way  from  the  mouths  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Red 
River ;  and  bad  work  we  had  of  it,  in  a  crazy  old 
boat,  to  pass  the  rapids,  and  avoid  the  sand-banks, 
and  snags,  and  sawyers,  and  whatever  the  devil  they 
call  them.  I  calculate  we  weren't  sorry  when  we 
left  the  river  and  took  to  dry  land  again.  Tlie  first 
thing  we  did  was  to  make  a  wigwam,  Injun  fashion, 
with  branches  of  trees.  This  was  to  shelter  the 
women  and  children.  Two  men  remained  to  protect 
them,  and  the  other  four  divided  into  two  parties,  and 
set  ofi*,  one  south,  and  t'other  west,  to  look  for  a  good 
place  for  a  settlement.  I  and  Righteous,  one  of  Asa's 
brothers,  took  the  southerly  track. 

It  was  no  pleasuring  party,  that  journey,  but  a 
right-down  hard  and  dangerous  expedition,  through 
cypress  swamps,  where  snapping  turtles  were  plenty 
as  mosquitoes,  and   at    every  step  the  congo  and 


"^^fMiiA.. 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  41 

moccasin  snakes  writhed  about  our  ankles.  We 
persevered,  however.  We  had  a  few  handfuls  of 
corn  in  our  hunting-pouches,  and  our  calabashes  well 
filled  with  whisky.  With  that  and  our  rifles,  we  did 
not  want  for  food. 

At  length,  on  the  fourth  day,  we  camo,  to  an 
upland  or  rolling  prairie,  as  we  call  it,  from  the  top 
of  which  we  had  a  view  that  made  our  hearts  leap 
for  joy.  A  lovely  strip  of  land  lay  before  us,  bounded 
at  the  further  end  by  a  forest  of  evergreen  oaks, 
honey-locusts,  and  catalpas.  Toward  the  north  was 
a  good  ten  mile  of  prairie ;  on  the  right  hand  a  wood 
of  cotton-trees,  and  on  the  left  the  forest  in  which 
you  now  are.  We  decided  at  once  that  we  should 
find  no  better  place  than  this  to  ^x  ourselves ;  and 
we  went  back  to  tell  Asa  and  the  others  of  our  dis- 
covery, and  to  show  them  the  way  to  it.  Asa  and 
one  of  his  brothers  returned  with  us,  bringing  part 
of  our  traps.  They  were  as  pleased  with  the  place 
as  we  were,  and  we  went  back  again  to  fetch  the  rest 
But  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  bring  our  plunder 
and  the  women  and  children  through  the  forests 
and  swamps.  We  had  to  cut  paths  through  the 
thickets,  and  to  make  bridges  and  rafts  to  cross 
the  creeks  and  marshes.     After    ten  days'  labor, 


42  ADVENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

however,  and  with  tlie  help  of  our  axes,  we  were  at 
our  journey's  end. 

We  began  directly  clearing  and  cutting  down 
trees,  and  in  three  weeks  we  had  built  a  log  house, 
and  were  able  to  lie  down  to  rest  without  fear  of 
being  disturbed  by  the  wolves  or  catamounts.  "We 
built  two  more  houses,  so  as  to  have  one  for  each  two 
families,  and  then  set  to  work  to  clear  the  land.  We 
had  soon  shaped  out  a  couple  of  fields,  a  ten-acre 
one  for  maize,  and  another  half  the  size  for  tobacco. 
These  we  began  to  dig  and  hoe  ;  but  the  ground  was 
hard  ;  and  though  we  all  worked  like  slaves,  we  saw 
there  was  nothing  to  be  made  of  it  without  plowing. 
A  plowshare  we  had,  and  a  plow  was  easily  made  — 
but  horses  were  wanting:  so  Asa  and  I  took  fifty 
dollars,  which  was  all  the  money  we  had  among  us, 
and  set  out  to  explore  the  country  forty  miles  round, 
and  endeavor  to  meet  with  somebody  who  would  sell 
us  a  couple  of  horses  and  two  or  three  cows.  Not  a 
clearing  or  settlement  did  we  find,  and  at  last  we 
returned  discouraged,  and  again  took  to  digging. 
On  the  very  first  day  after  our  return,  as  we  were 
toiling  away  in  the  field,  a  trampling  of  horses  was 
heard,  and  four  men,  mounted,  and  followed  by  a 
couple    of   wolf-hounds,   came    cantering    over    the 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  43 

prairie.  It  struck  ns  that  this  would  be  a  famous 
chance  for  buying  a  pair  of  horses,  and  Asa  went  to 
meet  them,  to  invite  them  to  alight  and  refresh.  At 
the  same  time  we  took  our  rifles,  which  were  always 
beside  us  when  we  worked  in  the  fields,  and  ad- 
vanced toward  the  strangers.  But  when  they  saw 
our  guns,  they  set  spurs  to  their  horses,  and  rode  off 
to  a  greater  distance.  Asa  called  out  to  them  not  to 
fear,  for  our  rifles  were  to  use  against  bears,  and 
wolves,  and  Eedskins,  and  not  against  Christian  men. 
Upon  this,  down  they  came  again  ;  we  brought  out  a 
calabash  of  real  Monongahela,  and  after  they  had 
taken  a  dram,  they  got  off  their  horses,  and  came  in 
and  ate  some  venison,  which  the  women  had  got 
ready.  They  were  Creoles,  half  Spanish,  half  French, 
with  a  streak  of  the  Injun ;  and  they  spoke  a  sort  of 
gibberish  not  easy  to  understand.  But  Asa,  who  had 
served  in  Lafayette's  division  in  the  time  of  the  war, 
knew  French  well;  and  when  they  had  eaten  and 
drunk,  he  tried  to  make  a  deal  with  them  for  two  of 
their  horses. 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  they  were  not  the  sort  of 
men  with  whom  decent  folk  could  *trade.  First  they 
would,  then  they  wouldn't:  which  horses  did  we 
want,  and  what. would  we  give.    We  offered  them 


44  .  ADVENTURES   IK  LOUISIANA. 

thirty-five  dollars  tor  their  two  best  horses  —  and  a 
heavy  price  it  was,  for  at  that  time  money  was  scarce 
in  the  settlements.  They  wanted  forty,  but  at  last 
took  the  thirty-five;  and  after  getting  three  parts 
drunk  upon  tafiia,  which  they  asked  to  wet  the  bar- 
gain as  they  said,  they  mounted  two  upon  each  of  the 
remaining  horses  and  rode  away. 

We  now  got  on  famously  with  our  fields,  and 
sowed  fifteen  acres  of  maize  and  tobacco,  and  then 
began  clearing  another  ten-acre  field.  We  were  one 
day  hard  at  work  at  this,  when  one  of  my  boys  came 
running  to  us  crying  out,  "Father!  father!  The 
Ked skins ! "  We  snatched  up  our  rifles,  and  hastened 
to  the  top  of  the  little  rising  groijnd  on  which  our 
houses  were  built,  and  thence  we  saw,  not  Injuns,  but 
fourteen  or  fifteen  Creoles,  galloping  toward  our 
clearing,  halloing  and  huzzaing  like  mad.  When 
they  were  within  fifty  yards  of  us,  Asa  stepped 
forward  to  meet  them.  As  soon  as  they  saw  him, 
one  of  them  called  out,  "There  is  the  the  thief! 
There  is  the  man  who  stole  my  brown  horse ! "  Asa 
made  no  answer  to  this,  but  w^aited  till  they  came 
nearer,  when  one  oi  them  rode  up  to  him  and  asked 
who  was  the  chief  in  the  settlement.  "There  is  no 
chief  here,"  answered  Asa;  "we  are  all  equals  and 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  45 

fi-ee •  citizens."  "You  have  stolen  a  horse  from  our 
friend  Monsieur  Croupier,"  replied  the  other.  "You 
must  give  it  up." 

"Is  that  all?"  said  Asa,  quietly. 

"No ;  you  must  show  us  by  what  right  you  hunt 
on  this  territory." 

"Yes,"  cried  half  a  dozen  others,  "we'll  have  no 
strangers  on  our  hunting  grounds ;  the  bears  and 
caguars  ariB  getting  scarcer  than  ever ;  and  as  for 
buiFaloes,  they  are  clean  exterminated."  And  all  the 
time  they  were  talking,  they  kept  leaping  and  gal- 
loping about  like  madmen. 

"The  sooner  the  bears  and  caguars  are  killed  the 
better,"  said  Asa.  "The  land  is  not  for  dumb  brutes, 
but  for  men." 

The  Creoles,  however,  persisted  that  we  had  no 
right  to  hunt  where  we  were,  and  swore  we  should 
go  away.  Then  Asa  asked  them  what  right  they 
had  to  send  ns  away.  This  seemed  to  embarrass 
them,  and  they  muttered  and  talked  together;  so 
that  it  was  easy  to  see  there  was  no  magistrate  or 
person  in  authority  among  them,  but  they  were  a 
party  of  scamps  who  had  come  in  hopes  to  frighten 
ns.  At  last  they  said  they  should  inform  the  gov- 
ernor, and  the  commandant  at  Natchitochee,  and  the 


4:6  ADVENTUEES  IN  LOFISIAITA. 

Lord  knows  who  besides,  that  we  had  come  and 
squatted  ourselves  down  here,  and  built  houses,  and 
cleared  fields,  and  all  without  right  or  permission ; 
and  that  then  we  might  look  out.  So  Asa  began  to 
lose  patience,  and  told  them  thej  might  go  to  the 
devil,  and  that,  if  they  were  not  off  soon,  he  should 
be  apt  to  hasten  their  movements. 

"I must  have  my  horse  back!"  screamed  the  Creole 
whom  they  called  Croupier. 

"You  shall,"  replied  Asa,  "both  of  them,  if  you 
return  the  five-and-thirty  dollars." 

"It  was  only  fifteen  dollars,"  cried  the  lying  Creole. 

Upon  this  Asa  called  to  us,  and  we  stepped  out 
from  among  the  cotton-trees,  behind  which  we  had 
been  standing  all  the  while  ;  and  when  the  Creoles 
saw  us,  each  with  his  rifle  on  his  arm,  they  seemed 
rather  confused  and  drew  back  a  little. 

"Here  are  my  comrades,"  said  Asa,  "who  will  all 
bear  witness  that  the  horses  were  sold  at  the  prices 
of  twenty  dollars  for  the  one  and  fifteen  for  the  other. 
And  if  any  one  says  the  contrary,  he  says  that  which 
is  not  true." 

"  Larifari !  "  roared  Croupier.  "  You  shan't  stop 
here  to  call  us  liars,  and  spoil  our  hunting-ground, 
and  build  houses  on  our  land.    His  excellency  the 


THE   BLOODY  BLOCK-HOrSB.  47 

governor  shall  be  told  of  it,  and  the  commandant  at 
^Natchitoches,  and  you  shall  be  driven  away."  And 
the  other  Creoles,  who,  while  Asa  was  speaking,  ap- 
peared to  be  getting  more  quiet  and  reasonable,  now 
became  madder  than  ever,  and  shrieked,  and  swore, 
and  galloped  backward  and  forward,  brandishing 
their  fowling-pieces  like  wild  Injuns,  and  screaming 
out  that  we  should  leave  the  country,  the  game 
wasn't  too  plenty  for  them,  and  such  like.  At 
length  Asa  and  the  rest  of  us  got  angry,  and  called 
out  to  them  to  take  themselves  off,  or  they  would 
be  sorry  for  it;  and  when  they  saw  us  bringing 
our  rifles  to  our  shoulders,  they  put  spurs  to  their 
horses,  and  galloped  away  to  a  distance  of  some  five 
hundred  yards.  There  they  halted,  and  set  up  such 
a  screeching  as  almost  deafened  us,  fired  off  some 
of  their  old  rusty  guns,  and  then  rode  away.  TVe 
all  laughed  at  their  bragging  and  cowardice,  except 
Asa,  who  looked  thoughtful. 

"I  fear  some  harm  will  come  of  this,"  said  he. 
"Those  fellows  will  go  talking  about  us  in  their  own 
country ;  and  if  it  gets  to  the  ears  of  the  governors 
and  commanding-officers  that  we  have  settled  down 
on  their  territory,  they  will  be  sending  troops  to 
dislodge  us. 


48  ADVENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

Asa's  words  made  us  reflect,  and  we  held  counsel 
together  as  to  what  was  best  to  be  done.  I  proposed 
that  we  should  build  a  block-house  on  the  Indian 
mound  to  defund  ourselves  in  if  we  were  attacked. 

"Yes,"  said  Asa,  "but  we  are  only  six,  and  they 
may  send  hundreds  against  us." 

"Yery  true,"  said  I;  "but  if  we  had  a  strong 
block-house  on  the  top  of  the  mound,  that  would  be 
as  good  as  sixty,  and  we  could  hold  out  against  a  hun- 
dred Spanish  musketeers.  And  it's  my  notion,  that 
if  we  give  up  such  a  handsome  piece  of  ground  as  we ' 
have  cleared  here,  without  firing  a  shot,  we  deserve 
to  have  our  rifles  broken  on  our  own  shoulders." 

Asa,  however,  did  not  seem  altogether  satisfied.  It 
was  easy  to  see  he  was  thinking  of  the  women  and 
children.  Then  said  Asa's  wife,  Eachel,  "I  calculate," 
said  she,  "that  !N"athan,  although  he  is  my  brother, 
and  I  oughtn't  to  say  it,  has  spoke  like  the  son 
of  his  father,  who  would  have  let  himself  be  scalped 
ten  times  over  before  he  would  have  given  up  such 
an  almighty  beautiful  piece  of  land.  And  what's 
more,  Asa,  I  for  one  won't  go  back  up  the  omnipotent 
dirty  Mississippi ;  and  that's  a  fact." 

"  But  if  a  hundred  Spanish  soldiers  come,"  said 
Asa,  "  and  I  reckon  they  will  come  ? " 


THB  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  49 

"Build  the  block-house,  man,  to  defend  yourselves ; 
and  when  our  people  up  at  Salt  Eiver  and  Cum- 
berland hear  that  the  Spaniards  are  quarreling  with 
us,  I  guess  they  won't  keep  their  hands  crossed  before 
them." 

So  seeing  us  all,  even  the  women,  thus  determined, 
Asa  gave  in  to  our  way  of  thinking,  and  the  very 
same  day  we  began  the  block-house  you  see  before 
you.  The  walls  were  all  of  young  cypress-trees,  and 
we  would  fain  have  roofed  it  with  the  same  wood ; 
but  the  smallest  of  the  cypresses  were  five  or  six  feet 
thick,  and  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  split  them.  So 
we  were  obliged  to  use  fir,  which,  when  it  is  dried  by 
a  few  days'  sun,  bums  like  tinder.  But  we  little 
thought  when  we  did  so,  what  sorrow  those  cursed 
fir  planks  would  bring  us. 

TV  hen  all  was  ready,  well  and  solidly  nailed  and 
hammered  together,  we  made  a  chimney,  so  that  the 
women  might  cook  if  necessary,  and  then  laid  in  a 
good  store  of  hams  and  dried  bears'  flesh,  filled  the 
meal  and  whisky  tubs,  and  the  water  casks,  and 
brought  our  plow  and  what  we  had  most  valuable 
into  the  block-house.  We  then  planted  the  palisades, 
securing  them  strongly  in  the  ground,  and  to  each 
other,  so  that  it  might  not  be  easy  to  tear  them  up. 


^HO  ADVENTURES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

We  left,  as  you  see,  a  space  of  five  yards  between 
the  stockade  and  the  house,  to  have  room  to  move 
about  in.  An  enemy  would  have  to  take  the  pali- 
sades before  he  could  do  injury  to  the  house  itself, 
and  we  reckoned  that  with  six  good  rifles  in  such 
hands  as  ours,  it  would  require  a  pretty  many  Span- 
ish musketeers  to  drive  us  from  our  outer  defenses. 

In  six  weeks  all  was  ready;  all  our  tools  and 
rations,  except  what  we  wanted  for  daily  use,  were 
^carried  into  the  fort,  and  we  stood  looking  at  the 
work  of  our  hands  with  much  satisfaction.  Asa  was 
the  only  one  who  seemed  cast  down. 

"I've  a  notion,"  said  he,  "this  block-house  will  be  a 
bloody  one  before  long;  and  what's  more,  I  guess  it 
will  be  the  blood  of  one  of  us  that'll  redden  it.  I've 
a  sort  of  feelin'  of  it,  and  who  it  '11  be." 

"Pooh,  Asa !  what  notions  be  these !  Keep  a  light 
heart,  man." 

And  Asa  seemed  to  cheer  up  again,  and  to  forget 
his  gloomy  fancies,  and  the  next  day  we  returned  to 
working  in  the  fields  ;  but  as  we  were  not  using  the 
horses,  one  of  us  went  every  morning  to  patrol  ten 
or  twelve  miles  backward  and  forward,  just  for  pre- 
caution's sake.  At  night  two  of  us  kept  watch, 
relieving    one    another,    and    patrolling    about    the 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  61 

neighborhood  of  our  clearing.  One  morning  wo 
were  working  in  the  bush  and  circling  trees,  when 
Eighteous  rode  up  full  gallop. 

"They're  coming!"  cried  he  ;  "a  hundred  of  them 
at  least!" 

"Are  they  far  off?"  said  Asa,  quite  quietly,  and  as 
if  he  had  been  talking  of  a  herd  of  deer. 

"They  are  coming  over  the  prairie.  In  less  than 
half  an  hour  they  will  be  liere." 

"How  are  they  marching?  With  van  and  rear 
guard  ?    In  what  ord  er  ? " 

"Ko  order  at  all,  but  all  of  a  heap  together." 

"  Good ! "  said  Asa, "  they  can  know  but  little  about 
bush-fighting  or  soldiering  of  any  kind.  Now  then, 
the  women  into  the  block-house." 

Righteous  galloped  up  to  our  fort,  to  be  there 
first  in  case  the  enemy  should  find  it.  The  women 
soon  followed,  carrying  what  they  could  with  them. 
When  we  were  all  in  the  block-house,  we  pulled  up 
the  ladder,  made  the  gate  fast,  and  there  we  were. 

We  felt  somehow  strange  when  we  found  ourselves 
shut  up  inside  the  palisades,  and  only  able  to  look 
out  through  the  slits  we  had  left  for  our  rifles.  We 
weren't  used  to  be  confined  in  a  place,  and  it  made 
us  right  down  wolfish.    There  we  remained,  however, 


52  ADVENTUBES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

as  still  as  mice.  Scarce  a  whisper  was  to  be  heard. 
Rachel  tore  up  old  shirts  and  greased  them,  for 
wadding  for  the  guns  ;  we  changed  our  flints,  and 
fixed  every  thing  about  the  rifles  properly,  while  the 
women  sharpened  our  knives  and  axes  all  in  silence. 

Nearly  an  hour  had  passed  in  this  way  when  we 
heard  a  shouting  and  screaming,  and  a  few  musket- 
shots  ;  and  we  saw  through  our  loopholes  some  Span- 
ish soldiers  running  backward  and  forward  on  the 
crest  of  the  slope  on  which  our  houses  stood.  Sud- 
denly a  great  pillar  of  smoke  arose,  then  a  second, 
then  a  third. 

"God  be  good  to  us!"  said  Eachel,  "they  are 
burning  our  houses."  We  were  all  trembling,  and 
quite  pale  with  rage.  Harkye,  stranger,  when  men 
have  been  slaving  and  sweating  for  four  or  fiVQ 
months  to  build  houses  for  their  wives  and  for  the 
poor  worms  of  children,  and  then  a  parcel  of  devils 
from  hell  come  and  bum  them  down  like  maize-stalks 
in  a  stubble-field,  it  is  no  wonder  that  their,  teeth 
should  grind  together,  and  their  fists  clench  of  them- 
selves. So  it  was  with  us ;  but  we  said  nothing,  for 
our  rage  would  not  let  us  speak.  But  presently,  as 
we  strained  om*  eyes  through  the  loopholes,  the 
Spaniards  showed  themselves  at  the  opening  of  the 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  53 

forest  yonder,  coming  toward  the  block-house.  "We 
tried  to  count  them,  but  at  first  it  was  impossible, 
for  they  came  on  in  a  crowd,  without  any  order. 
They  thought  little  enough  of  those  they  were 
seeking,  or  they  would  have  been  more  prudent. 
However,  when  they  came  within*  five  hundred 
paces,  they  formed  ranks  and  we  were  able  to  count 
them.  There  were  eighty-two  foot  soldiers  with 
muskets  and  carbines,  and  three  oflScers  on  horse- 
back, with  drawn  swords  in  their  hands.  The  latter 
dismounted,  and  their  example  was  followed  by 
seven  other  horsemen,  among  whom  we  recognized 
three  of  the  rascally  Creoles  who  had  brought  all 
this  trouble  upon  us.  He  they  called  Croupier  was 
among  them.  The  other  four  were  also  Creoles, 
Acadians  or  Canadians.  "We  had  seen  lots  of  their 
sort  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  fine  hunters 
they  were,  but  mostly  wild,  drunken,  debauched 
barbarians. 

The  Acadians  came  on  -in  front  and  they  set  up  a 
whoop  when  they  saw  the  block-house  and  stockade ; 
but  finding  we  were  prepared  to  receive  them,  they 
retreated  upon  the  main  body.  "We  saw  them  speak- 
ing to  the  oflBcers,  as  if  advising  them ;  but  the  latter 
shook  their  heads,  and  the  soldiers  continued  moving 


54  ADVENTURES   IN   LOUISIANA. 

on.  They  were  in  uniforms  of  all  colors — blue, 
white,  and  brown,  but  each  man  dirtier  than  his 
neighbor.  They  marched  in  good  order,  nevertheless, 
the  captain  and  officers  coming  on  in  front,  and  the 
Acadians  keeping  on  the  flanks.  The  latter,  however, 
edged  gradually  off  toward  the  cotton-trees,  and 
presently  disappeared  among  them. 

"Them  be  the  first  men  to  pick  off,"  said  Asa,  when 
he  saw  this  maneuver  of  the  Creoles.  "They've 
steady  hands  and  sharp  eyes ;  but  if  once  we  get  rid 
of  them,  we  need  not  mind  the  others." 

The  Spaniards  were  now  within  a  hundred  yards 
of  us. 

"Shall  I  let  fly  at  the  thievin'  incendiaries?"  said 
Kighteous. 

"  God  forbid ! "  replied  Asa,  quite  solemn-like.  "  We 
will  defend  ourselves  like  men ;  but  let  us  wait  till 
we  are  attacked — and  may  the  blood  that  is  shed  lie 
at  the  door  of  the  aggressors." 

The  Spaniards  now  saw  plainly  that  they  would 
have  to  take  the  stockade  before  they  could  get  at  us, 
and  the  officers  seemed  consulting  together. 

"Halt!"  cried  Asa,  suddenly. 

^^ Messieurs  les  Americains^^  said  the  captain, 
looking  up  at  our  loopholes. 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  |§ 

"What's  your  pleasure?"  demanded  Asa. 

Upon  this  the  captain  stuck  a  dirty  pocket-hand- 
kerchief upon  the  point  of  his  sword,  and  laughing 
with  his  officers,  moved  some  twenty  paces  forward, 
followed  by  the  troops.  Thereupon  Asa  again  shouted 
to  him  to  halt. 

"This  is  not  according  to  the  customs  of  war,"  said 
he.  "The  flag  of  truce  may  advance,  but  if  it  is 
accompanied,  we  fire." 

It  was  evident  that  the  Spaniards  never  dreamed 
of  our  attempting  to  resist  them ;  for  there  they  stood 
in  line  before  us,  and  if  we  had  fired,  every  shot  must 
have  told.  The  Acadians,  who  kept  themselves  all 
this  time  snug  behind  the  cotton-trees,  called  more 
than  once  to  the  captain  to  withdraw  his  men  into  the 
wood;  but  he  only  shook  his  head  contemptuously. 
"When,  however,  he  heard  Asa  threaten  to  fire,  he 
looked  puzzled,  and  as  if  he  thought  it  just  possible 
we  might  do  as  we  said.  He  ordered  his  men  to  halt, 
and  called  out  to  us  not  to  fire  till  he  had  explained 
what  they  came  for. 

"Then  cut  it  short,"  cried  Asa,  sternly.  "You'd 
have  done  better  to  explain  before  you  burned  down 
our  houses,  like  a  pack  of  Mohawks  on  the  war-path." 

As  he  spoke  three  bullets  whistled  fi-om  the  edge 


^t  ADVBNTUEES  IN  LOUISIAJTA. 

of  the  forest,  and  struck  the  stockades  within  a  few 
inches  of  the  loophole  at  which  he  stood.  They 
were  fired  by  the  Creoles,  who,  although  they  could 
not  possibly  distinguish  Asa,  had  probably  seen  his 
rifle  barrel  glitter  through  the  opening.  As  soon  as 
they  had  fired,  they  sprang  behind  their  trees  again, 
craning  their  heads  forward  to  hear  if  there  was  a 
groan  or  a  cry.  They'd  have  done  better  to  have 
kept  quiet ;  for  Kighteous  and  I  caught  sight  of  them, 
and  let  fly  at  the  same  moment.  Two  of  them  fell 
and  rolled  from  behind  the  trees,  and  we  saw  that 
they  were  the  Creole  called  Croupier,  and  another  of 
our  horse-dealing  friends. 

When  the  Spanish  officer  heard  the  shots,  he  ran 
back  to  his  men,  and  shouted  out,  "Forward!  To  the 
assault!"  They  came  on  like  mad,  for  a  distance  of 
thirty  paces,  and  then,  as  if  they  thought  we  were 
wild-geese,  to  be  frightened  by  their  noise,  they  fired 
a  volley  against  the  block-house. 

"INow  then!"  cried  Asa,  "are  you  loaded,  Kathan 
and  Eighteous  ?  I  take  the  captain — you,  N"athan,  the 
lieutenant — Eighteous,  the  third  officer — James,  the 
sergeant.    Mark  your  men,  and  waste  no  powder." 

The  Spaniards  were  still  some  sixty  yards  off,  but 
we  were  sure  of  our  mark  at  a  hundred  and  sixty ; 


a^. 


THE   BLOODY  BLOOK-HOUSE.  67 

and  that  if  they  had  been  squirrels  instead  of  men. 
We  fired  :  the  captain  and  lieutenant,  the  third  officer, 
two  sergeants,  and  another  man  writhed  for  an 
instant  upon  the  grass.  The  next  moment  they 
stretched  themselves  out — dead. 

All  was  now  confusion  among  the  musketeers,  who 
ran  in  every  direction.  Most  of  them  took  to  the 
wood,  but  about  a  dozen  remained  and  lifted  up  their 
officers,  to  see  if  there  was  any  spark  of  life  left 
in  them. 

"Load  again — quick!"  said  Asa,  in  a  low  voice. 
Wo  did  so;  and  six  naore  Spaniards  tumbled  over. 
Those  who  still  kept  their  legs  ran  off  as  if  the  soles 
of  their  shoes  had  been  of  red-hot  iron. 

We  set  to  work  to  pick  out  our  touch-holes  and 
clean  our  rifles,  knowing  that  we  might  not  have  time 
later,  and  that  a  single  miss-fire  might  cost  us  all  our 
lives.  We  then  loaded,  and  began  calculating  what 
the  Spaniards  would  do  next.  It  is  true  they  had 
lost  their  officers ;  but  there  were  five  Acadians  with 
them,  and  those  were  the  men  we  had  most  reason  to 
fear.  Meantime  the  vultures  and  turkey-buzzards 
had  already  begun  to  assemble,  and  presently  hun- 
dreds of  them  were  circling  and  hovering  over  the 

tarcasses,  which  they  as  yet  feared  to  touch. 

3* 


68  ADVENTURES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

Just  then  Righteous,  who  had  the  sharpest  eye  of 
us  all,  pointed  to  the  corner  of  the  wood,  just  yonder, 
where  it  joins  the  brushwood  thicket.  I  made  a  sign 
to  Asa,  and  we  all  looked,  and  saw  there  was  some- 
thing creeping  and  moving  through  the  underwood. 
Presently  we  distinguished  two  Acadians  heading  a 
score  of  Spaniards,  and  endeavoring,  under  cover  of 
the  bushes,  to  steal  across  the  open  ground  to  the 
east  side  of  the  forest 

"The  Acadians  for  you,  E'athan  and  Righteous — 
the  Spaniards  for  us,"  said  Asa.  The  next  momen* 
two  Acadians  and  four  Spaniards  lay  bleeding  in  the 
brushwood.  But  the  bullets  were  scarcely  out  of  our 
rifles  when  a  third  Acadian,  whom  we  had  not  seen, 
started  up.  "JSTow's  the  time,"  shouted  he,  "before 
they  have  loaded  again.  Follow  me! — we  will  have 
their  block-house  yet."  And  he  sprang  across,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Spaniards.  Although  we  had  killed  or 
disabled  a  score  of  our  enemies,  those  who  remained 
were  more  than  ten  to  one  of  us  ;  and  we  were  even 
worse  off  than  at  first,  for  then  the}''  were  all  together, 
and  now  we  had  them  on  each  side  of  us.  But  we 
did  not  let  ourselves  be  discouraged,  although  we 
could  not  help  feeling  that  the  odds  against  us  were 
fearfully  great. 


THE  BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  59 

We  had  now  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out;  for  if  one 
of  us  showed  himself  at  a  loophole,  a  dozen  bullets 
rattled  about  his  ears.  There  were  many  shot-holes 
through  the  palisades,  which  were  covered  with 
white  streaks  where  the  splinters  had  been  torn  off 
by  the  lead.  The  musketeers  had  spread  themselves 
all  along  the  edge  of  the  forest,  and  had  learned  by 
experience  to  keep  close  to  their  cover.  We  now  and 
then  got  a  shot  at  them,  and  four  or  five  more  were 
killed ;  but  it  was  slow  work,  and  the  time  seemed 
very  long. 

Suddenly  the  Spaniards  set  up  a  load  shout.  At 
first  we  could  not  make  out  what  was  the  matter,  but 
presently  we  hoard  a  hissing  and  crackling  on  the 
roof  of  the  block-house.  They  had  wrapped  tow 
around  their  cartridges,  and  one  of  the  shots  had  set 
light  to  the  fir-boards.  Just  as  we  found  it  out,  they 
gave  three  more  hurras,  and  we  saw  the  dry  planks 
begin  to  flame,  and  the  fire  to  spread. 

"We  must  put  that  out  and  at  once,"  said  Asa,  "if 
we  don't  wish  to  be  roasted  alive.  Some  one  must  get 
up  the  chimney  with  a  bucket  of  water.  I  '11  go  myself." 

"  Let  me  go,  Asa,"  said  Kighteous. 

"You  stop  here.  It  don't  matter  who  goes.  The 
thing  will  be  done  in  a  minute." 


60  ADVENTUEES  IN  LOUISIANA. 

He  put  a  chair  on  the  table,  and  got  upon  it,  and 
then  seizing  a  bar  which  was  fixed  across  the  chimney 
to  hang  haras  upon,  he  drew  himself  np  by  his  arms, 
and  Kachel  handed  him  a  pail  of  water.  All  this 
time  the  flame  was  burning  brighter,  and  the  Span- 
iards getting  louder  in  their  rejoicings  and  hurras. 
Asa  stood  upon  the  bar,  and  raising  the  pail  above 
his  head,  poured  the  water  out  of  the  chimney  upon 
the  roof." 

"More  to  the  left,  Asa,"  said  Kighteous;  "the  fire 
is  strongest  to  the  left." 

"Tarnation  seize  it!"  cried  Asa,  "I  can't  see. 
Hand  me  another  pailfull." 

We  did  so ;  and  when  he  had  got  it,  he  put  his  head 
out  at  the  top  of  the  chimney  to  see  where  the  fire 
was,  and  threw  the  water  over  the  exact  spot.  But 
at  the  very  moment  that  he  did,  the  report  of  a  dozen 
muskets  was  heard. 

"Ha!"  cried  Asa,  in  an  altered  voice,  "I  have  it." 
And  the  hams  and  bucket  came  tumbling  down  the 
chimney,  and  Asa  after  them,  all  covered  with  blood, 

"In  God's  name,  man,  are  you  hurt?"  cried  Rachel. 

"Hush,  wife!"  replied  Asa;  "keep  quiet.  1  have 
enough  for  the  rest  of  my  life,  which  won't  be  long : 
but  never  mind,  lads;  defend  yourselves  well,  and 


THE  BLOODY   BLOCK-HOUSE.  61 

don't  fire  two  at  the  same  man.  Save  your  lead,  for 
you  will  want  it  all.     Promise  me  that." 

"Asa!  my  beloved  Asa  I"  shrieked  Kachel;  "if  you 
die,  I  shall  die  too." 

"  Silence  1  foolish  woman ;  and  think  of  our  child, 
and  the.  one  yet  unborn  I  Harkl  I  hear  the  Span- 
iards! Defend  yourselves;  and  Nathan,  be  a  father 
to  my  children." 

I  had  barely  time  to  press  his  hand  and  promise. 
The  Spaniards,  who  had  guessed  our  loss,  rushed  like 
mad  wolves  up  the  mound,  twenty  on  one  side,  and 
thirty  or  more  on  the  other. 

"Steady!"  cried  L  "Righteous,  hero  with  me; 
and  you,  Rachel,  show  yourself  worthy  to  be  Hiram 
Strong's  daughter,  and  Asa's  wife :  load  this  rifle  for 
me  while  I  fire  my  own." 

"O  God!  O  God!"  cried  Rachel;  "The  hell-hounds 
have  murdered  my  Asa!" 

She  clasped  her  husband's  body  in  her  arms,  and 
there  was  no  getting  her  away.  I  felt  sad  enough, 
myself,  but  there  was  scanty  time  for  grieving ;  for  a 
party  of  Spaniards,  headed  by  one  of  the  Acadians, 
was  close  up  to  the  mound  on  the  side  which  I  was 
defending.  I  shot  the  Acadian;  but  another,  the 
sixth,  and  last  but  one,  took  his  place.    "Rachel!" 


62  ADTENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

cried  I,  "the  rifle,  for  God's  sake,  the  rifle!  a  single 
bullet  may  save  all  our  lives." 

But  no  Eachel  came ;  and  the  Acadian  and  Span- 
iards, who,  from  the  cessation  of  our  flre,  guessed  that 
we  were  either  unloaded,  or  had  expended  our 
ammunition,  now  sprang  forward,  and  by  climbing, 
and  scrabbling,  and  getting  on  one  another's  shoul- 
ders, managed  to  scale  the  side  of  the  mound,  almost 
perpendicular  as  you  see  it  is.  And  in  a  minute 
the  Acadian  and  half  a  dozen  Spaniards,  with  axes, 
were  chopping  away  at  the  palisades,  and  severing 
the  wattles  which  bound  them  together.  To  give  the 
devil  his  due,  if  there  had  been  three  like  that  Aca- 
dian, it  would  have  been  all  up  with  us.  He  handled 
his  ax  like  a  real  backwoodsman ;  but  the  Spaniards 
wanted  either  the  skill  or  the  strength  of  arm,  and 
made  little  impression.  There  were  only  Kighteous 
and  myself  to  oppose  them ;  for  a  dozen  more  soldiers, 
with  the  seventh  of  those  cursed  Acadians,  were 
attacking  the  other  side  of  the  stockade. 

Eighteous  shot  down  one  of  the  Spaniards;  but 
just  as  he  had  done  so,  the  Acadian  tore  up  a  pali- 
sade by  the  roots,  (how  he  did  it  I  know  not  to  this 
hour,)  held  it  with  the  wattles  and  branches  hanging 
round  it  like  a  shield  before  him,  guarding  off  a  blow 


THE  BLOOUr  BEaCK=HDir8E.  63 

I  aimed  at  him,  then  hurled  it  against  me  with  such 
force  that  I  staggered  backward,  and  he  sprang 
past  me.  I  thought  it  was  all  over  with  us.  It  is 
true  that  Eighteous,  with  the  butt  of  his  rifle,  split 
the  skull  of  the  first  Spaniard  who  entered,  and  drove 
his  hunting-knife  into  the  next;  but  the  Acadian 
alone  was  man  enough  to  give  us  abundant  occupa- 
tion, now  he  had  got  in  our  rear.  Just  then  there 
was  a  crack  of  a  rifle,  the  Acadian  gave  a  leap  into 
the  air  and  fell  dead,  and  at  the  same  moment  my 
son  Godsend,  a  boy  ten  years  old,  sprang  forward,  in 
his  hand  Asa's  rifle,  still  smoking  from  muzzle  and 
touch-hole.  The  glorious  boy  had  loaded  the  piece 
when  he  saw  that  Rachel  did  not  do  it,  and  in  the 
very  nick  of  time  had  shot  the  Acadian  through  the 
heart.  This  brought  me  to  myself  again,  and  with  ax 
in  one  hand  and  knife  in  the  other,  I  rushed  in 
among  the  Spaniards,  hacking  and  hewing  right  and 
left.  It  was  a  real  butchery,  which  lasted  a  good 
quarter  of  an  hour,  as  it  seemed  to  nie,  but  certainly 
some  minutes  ;  until  at  last  the  Spaniards  got  sick  of 
it,  and  would  have  done  so  sooner  had  they  known 
that  their  leader  was  shot.  They  jumped  off  the 
mound  and  ran  away,  such  of  them  as  were  able. 
Righteous  and  I  put  the  palisade  in  its  place  again, 


64  ADVENTURES   IN   LOUISIANA. 

securing  it  as  well  as  we  could,  and  then,  telling  my 
boy  to  keep  watcli,  ran  over  to  the  other  side,  where 
a  desperate  fight  was  going  on. 

Three  of  our  party,  assisted  by  the  women,  were 
defending  the  stockade  against  a  score  of  Spaniards, 
who  kept  poking  their  bayonets  between  the  pali- 
sades, till  all  our  people  were  wounded  and  bleeding. 
But  Rachel  had  now  recovered  from  her  first  grief  at 
her  husband's  death,  or  rather  it  had  turned  to  rage 
and  revenge,  and  there  she  was  like  a  furious  tigress, 
seizing  the  bayonets  as  they  were  thrust  through  the 
stockade,  and  wrenching  them  off  the  muskets,  and 
sometimes  pulling  the  muskets  themselves  out  of  the 
soldiers'  hands.  But  all  this  struggling  had  loosened 
the  palisades,  and  there  [were  one  or  two  openings 
in  them  through  which  the  thin-bodied  Spaniards, 
pushed  on  by  their  comrades,  were  able  to  pass. 
Just  as  we  came  up,  two  or  three  of  these  copper- 
colored  Dons  had  squeezed  themselves  through, 
without  their  muskets,  but  with  their  short  sabers  in 
their  hands.  They  are  active,  dangerous  fellows, 
those  Spaniards,  in  a  hand-to-hand  tussel.  One  of 
them  sprang  at  me,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  my 
hunting-knife,  I  was  done  for,  for  I  had  no  room  to 
swing  my  ax ;  but  as  he  came  on  I  hit  him  a  blow 


THE   BLOODY  BLOCK-HOUSE.  65 

with  my  fist,  which  knocked -him  down,  and  then 
ran  my  knife  into  him,  and  jumping  over  his  body 
snatched  a  musket  out  of  Rachel's  hand,  and  began 
laying  about  me  with  the  but-end  of  it.  I  was  sorry 
not  to  have  my  rifle,  which  was  handier  than  those 
heavy  Spanish  muskets.  The  women  were  now  in 
the  way  —  we  had  n't  room  for  so  many  —  so  I  called 
out  to  them  to  get  into  the  block-house  and  load  the 
rifles.  There  was  still  another  Acadian  alive,  and 
I  knew  that  the  fight  would  n't  end  till  he  was  done 
for.  But  while  we  were  fighting,  Godsend  and  the 
women  loaded  the  rifles  and  brought  them  out,  and 
firing  through  the  stockade,  killed  three  or  four,  and, 
as  luck  would  have  it,  the  Acadian  was  one  of  the 
number.  So  when  the  Spaniards,  who  are  just  like 
hounds,  and  only  come  on  if  led  and  encouraged, 
saw  their  leader  had  fallen,  they  sprang  ofi*  the 
mound,  with  a  ^Carajo!  MalditosV  and  ran  away 
as  if  a  shell  had  burst  among  them." 

The  old  squatter  paused,  and  drew  a  deep  breath. 
He  had  forgotten  his  usual  drawl  and  deliberation, 
and  had  become  animated  and  eager  while  describ- 
ing the  stirring  incidents  in  which  he  had  borne 
so  active  a  part.  When  he  had  taken  breath,  he 
continued  : 


W  ADVENTURES   IN  LOUISIANA. 

"I  couldn't  suy  how  long  the  fight  lasted;  it 
seemed  short  we  were  so  busy,  and  yet  long,  deadly 
long.  It  is  no  joke  to  have  to  defend  one's  life,  and 
the  lives  of  those  one  loves  best,  againt  fourscore 
bloodthirsty  Spaniards,  and  that  with  only  half  a 
dozen  rifles  for  arms,  and  a  few  palisades  for  shelter. 
When  it  was  over  we  were  so  dog-tired  that  we  fell 
down  where  we  were,  like  over-driven  oxen,  and 
without  minding  the  blood  which  lay  like  water  on 
the  ground.  Seven  Spaniards  and  two  Acadians 
lay  dead  within  the  stockade.  We  ourselves  were 
all  wounded  and  hacked  about,  some  with  knife- 
stabs  and  saber-cuts,  others  with  musket-shots  ;  ugly 
wounds  enough,  some  of  them,  but  none  mortal.  If 
the  Spaniards  had  returned  to  the  attack,  they  would 
have  made  short  work  of  us  ;  for  as  soon  as  we  left 
off  fighting,  and  our  blood  cooled,  we  became  stiff 
and  helpless.  But  now  came  the  women  with  rags 
and  bandages,  and  washed  our  wounds  and  bound 
them  up,  and  we  dragged  ourselves  into  the  block- 
house and  lay  down  upon  our  mattresses  of  dry 
leaves.  And  Godsend  loaded  the  rifles  and  a  dozen 
Spanish  muskets  that  were  lying  about,  to  be  in  readi- 
ness for  another  attack,  and  the  women  kept  watch 
while  we  slept.    But  the  Spaniards  had  had  enough, 


THE  BLOODY   BLOCK-HOUSE.  67 

and  we  saw  no  more  of  them.  Only  the  next  morn- 
ing, when  Jonas  went  down  the  ladder  to  reconnoiter, 
he  found  thirty  dead  and  dying,  and  a  few  wounded, 
who  begged  hard  for  a  drink  of 'water,  for  that  their 
comrades  had  deserted  them.  »  We  got  them  up  into 
the  block-house  and  had  their  wounds  dressed,  and 
after  a  time  they  were  cured  and  left  us." 

"And  were  you  never  attacked  again?"  said  I.  "I 
wonder  at  your  courage  in  remaining  here  when 
aware  of  the  dangei*s  you  were  exposed  to." 

"  We  reckoned  we  had  more  right  than  ever  to  the 
land  after  all  the  blood  it  had  cost  us,  and  then  the 
news  of  the  fight  had  'got  carried  into  the  settle- 
ments, and  up  as  far  as  Salt  Kiver ;  and  some  of  our 
friends  and  kinsfolk  came  down  to  join  us,  and  there 
were  soon  enough  of  us  not  to  care  for  twice  as  many 
Spaniards  as  we  had  beaten  off  before." 

While  speaking,  the  old  squatter  descended  the 
ladder  and  led  us  out  of  the  forest  and  over  the  ridge 
of  a  low  hill,  on  the  side  of  which  stood  a  dozen 
log-houses,  casting  their  black  shadows  on  the  moon- 
lit slope.  We  met  with  a  rough  but  kind  welcome — 
few  words  but  plenty  of  good  cheer — and  we  made 
acquaintance  with  the  heroes  and  heroines  of  the 
block-house  siege,  and  with  their  sons  and  daughters, 


68  ADVENTURES  IN  LOTJISIANA. 

all  buxom,  strapping  damsels,  and  fine  manly  lads. 
I  have  often  enjoyed  a  softer  bed,  but  never  a  sounder 
sleep  than  that  night. 

The  next  day  our  horses  were  brought  round  from 
the  swamp,  and  we  toojc  our  departure ;  but  as  hard- 
ships, however  painful  to  endure,  are  pleasant  to  look 
back  upon,  so  have  I  often  thought  with  pleasure  of 
our  adventures  in  the  prairies,  and  recurred  with 
the  strongest  interest  to  old  Nathan's  thrilling 
narrative  of  the  Bloody  Block-house. 


bej^fqUs  l^  lex^g. 


GHAPTEK  I. 

A  SCAMPER  IN  THE  PRAIRIE. 

^•What  took  you  to  Texas  ?"  is  a  question  that  has 
so  frequently  been  asked  me  by  friends  in  the  States, 
that  a  reply  to  it  is  perhaps  the  most  appropriate 
commencement  I  can  make  to  a  sketch  of  iny  adven- 
tures in  that  country.  Many  of  my  fellow-citizens 
have  expressed  their  surprise — more  flattering  to  me 
and  my  family  than  to  Texas — that  a  son  of  Judge 
Morse  of  Maryland,  instead  of  pitching  his  tent  in 
his  native  State,  should  have  deserted  it  for  a  land 
which  certainly,  at  the  time  I  first  went  to  it,  was  in 
any  thing  but  good  repute,  and  of  whose  population 
the  Anglo-Saxon  portion  mainly  consisted  of  out- 
laws and  bad  characters,  expelled  or  fugitive  from 


70  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

the  Union.  Tlie  facts  of  the  case  were  these: — 1 
went  to  Texas,  endorsed,  as  I  may  say,  by  a  com- 
pany of  our  enlightened  New  York  Yankees,  whose 
speculative  attention  was  just  then  particularly  di- 
rected to  that  country.  In  other  words,  I  had  the 
good  or  ill  luck,  as  you  may  choose  to  think  it,  to  be 
the  possessor  of  a  Texas-Land-Scrip — that  is  to  say, 
a  certificate  issued  by  the  Galveston  Bay  and  Texas 
Land  Company,  declaring  and  making  known  to  all 
whom  it  might  concern,  that  Mr.  Edwin  Morse  had 
paid  into  the  hands  of  the  cashier  of  said  company 
the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars,  in  consideration  of 
which,  he,  the  said  Edward  Morse,  was  duly  entitled 
and  authorized  to  select,  within  the  district  and  ter- 
ritory of  the  aforesaid  Galveston  Bay  and  Texas 
Land  Company,  a  tract  of  land  of  the  extent  of  ten 
thousand  acres,  neither  more  nor  less,  to  take  pos- 
session of  and  settle  upon  it,  and,  in  a  word,  to 
exercise  over  it  all  the  rights  of  a  proprietor ;  under 
the  sole  condition  that  in  the  selection  of  his  ten 
thousand  acres  he  should  not  infringe  on  the  prop- 
erty or  rights  of  the  holders  of  previously  given 
certificates. 

Ten  thousand  acres  of  the  finest  land  in  the  world, 
and    under    a    heaven    compared    to    which,    our 


A  6CAMPEE   IN   THE   PEAIEIK.  ff 

Maryland  sky,  bright  as  it  is, appears  dull  and  foggy! 
It  was  certainly  a  tempting  bait ;  too  tempting  by 
far  not  to  be  caught  at  by  many  in  those  times  of 
speculation  ;  and  accordingly,  our  free  and  enlight- 
ened citizens  bought  and  sold  their  millions  of  Texan 
acres  just  as  readily  as  they  did  their  thousands  of 
towns  and  villages  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Michigan,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  shares  in  banks 
and  railways.  It  was  a  speculative  fever,  which  has 
since,  we  may  hope,  been  in  some  degree  cured.  At 
any  rate,  the  remedies  applied  have  been  tolerably- 
severe. 

I  had  not  escaped  the  contagion,  and  having  got 
the  land  on  paper,  I  thought  I  should  like  to  see  it  in 
dirty  acres.  My  intention  was  to  select  my  plot  of 
ground  and  take  possession  of  it,  and  then,  if  I  did 
not  like  the  country,  to  turn  it  into  dollars  again.  If, 
upon  the  other  hand,  the  country  pleased  me,  I  would 
return  to  Maryland,  get  together  what  was  need- 
ful for  the  todertaking,  and  set  up  my  roof-tree  in 
Texas  for  good  and  all.  Accordingly,  in  company 
with  a  friend  who  had  a  similar  venture,  I  embarked 
at  Baltimore  on  board  the  Catcher  schooner,  and, 
after  a  three  weeks'  voyage,  arrived  in  Galveston 
Bay. 


IS  ADVENTUBES  IN  TEXAS. 

The  grassy  shores  of  this  bay,  into  which  the  river 
Brazos  empties  itself,  rise  so  little  above  the  surface 
of  the  water,  which  they  strongly  resemble  in  color, 
that  .it  would  be  diflScult  to  discover  them,  were  it 
not  for  three  stunted  trees  growing  on  the  western 
extremity  of  a  long  lizard-shaped  island  that  stretches 
nearly  sixty  miles  across  the  bay,  and  conceals  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  These  trees  are  the  only  land- 
mark for  the  mariner;  and,  with  their  exception, 
not  a  single  object — not  a  hill,  a  house,  nor  so  much 
as  a  bush  relieves  the  level  sameness  of  the  island 
and  adjacent  continent 

After  we  had,  with  some  difficulty,  got  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  island,  a  pilot  came  on  board  and  took 
charge  of  the  vessel.  The  first  thing  he  did  was  to 
run  us  on  a  sand-bank,  off  of  which  we  got  with  no 
small  labor,  and  by  the  united  exertions  of  sailors 
and  passengers,  and  at  length  entered  the  river.  In 
our  impatience  to  land,  I  and  my  friend  left  the 
schooner  in  a  cockleshell  of  a  boat,  wKich  upset  in 
the  surge,  and  we  found  ourselves  floundering  in 
the  water.  Luckily  it  was  not  very  deep,  and  we 
escaped  with  a  thorough  drenching. 

When  we  had  scrambled  on  shore,  we  gazed  about 
US  for  some  time  before  we  could  persuade  ourselves 


A  SCAMPEB  IN   THE   PEAIEIE.  9l3 

that  we  were  actually  upon  land,  so  unnsnal  was  its 
aspect.  It  was,  without  exception,  the  strangest 
coast  that  we  had  ever  seen,  and  there  was  scarcely 
a  possibility  of  distinguishing  the  boundary  between 
earth  and  water.  The  green  grass  grew  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  green  sea,  and  there  was  only  the  streak 
of  white  foam  left  by  the  latter  upon  the  former  to 
serve  as  a  line  of  demarkation.  Before  us  was  a  per- 
fectly level  plain,  a  hundred  or  more  miles  in  extent, 
covered  with  long,  fine  grass,  rolling  in  waves  before 
each  puff  of  the  sea-breeze,  with  neither  tree,  nor 
house,  nor  hill,  to  vary  the  unbroken  monotony  of  the 
surface.  Ten  or  twelve  miles  toward  the  north  and 
north-west,  we  distingmshed  some  dark  masses,  which 
we  afterward  discovered  to  be  a  group  of  trees];  but 
to  our  eyes  they  looked  exactly  like  islands  in  a 
green  sea,  and  we  subsequently  learned  that  such 
groups,  innumerable  in  Texan  prairies,  are  called 
islands'  by  the  people  of  the  country.  A  more 
appropriate  name,  or  one  better  describing  their 
appearance,  could  not  be  given  to  them. 

Proceeding  along  the  shore,  we  came  to  a  block- 
house situated  behind  a  small  tongue  of  land  project- 
ing into  the  river,  and  decorated  with  the  flag  of  the 
Mexican  republic,  waving  in  all  its  glory  from  the 


74:  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

roof.  This  building,  the  only  one  of  which  at  that 
time,  Galveston  harbor  could  boast,  served,  as  may- 
be supposed,  for  a  great  variety  of  uses.  It  was  the 
custom-house  and  the  barracks  for  the  garrison,  (con- 
sisting of  a  company  of  Mexican  infantry,)  the 
residence  of  the  controller  of  customs,  and  of  the 
civil  and  military  intendant,  the  head-quarters  of  the 
officer  commanding,  and  it  served,  moreover,  as  hotel, 
and  wine  and  spirit  store.  Alongside  the  board,  on 
which  was  depicted  a  sort  of  hieroglyphic,  intended 
for  the  Mexican  eagle,  hung  a  rum-bottle,  doing  duty 
as  a  sign,  and  the  republican  banner  threw  its  pro- 
tecting shadow  over  an  announcement  of — "Brandy, 
"Whisky,  and  Accommodation  for  Man  and  Beast." 
Approaching  the  house,  we  saw  the  whole  garrison 
assembled  before  the  door.  It  consisted  of  a  dozen 
dwarfish,  spindle-shanked  Mexican  soldiers,  none  of 
them  so  big  or  half  so  strong  as  American  boys  of 
fifteen,  and  whom  I  would  have  backed  a  single 
Kentucky  woodsman  armed  with  a  riding-whip  to 
have  driven  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  These 
heroes  all  sported  tremendous  beards,  whiskers,  and. 
mustaches,  and  had  a  habit  of  knitting  their  brows, 
in  tlie  endeavor,  as  we  supposed,  to  look  fierce  and 
formidable.    They  were  crowding  round  a  table  of 


A   SCAMPEB  m  THE   PEAEEIE.  75 

rough  planks,  playing  a  game  at  cards,  in  which  they 
were  bo  engrossed,  that  they  took  no  notice  of  our 
approach.  Their  oflScer,  however,  came  out  of  the 
house  to  meet  us  with  a  friendly  greeting. 

Captain  Cotton,  formerly  editor  of  the  Mexican 
Gazette^  now  civil  and  military  superintendent  of 
Galveston,  customs-director,  harbor-master,  and  tav- 
ern-keeper, and  a  Yankee  to  boot,  seemed  to  trouble 
his  head  —  to  the  credit  of  his  good  sense  be  it  said  — 
much  less  about  his  various  dignities  and  titles  (of 
which  he  had  more  than  there  were  soldiers  in  his 
garrison)  than  about  his  capital  French  and  Spanish 
wines,  which,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  he  laid  in  duty 
free.  As  to  the  soldiers,  in  all  my  life  I  never  saw 
such  wretched-looking,  shriveled  dwarfs.  I  could 
not  help  fancying  them  grotesque  elves  or  goblins, 
transported  thither  by  some  old  sorcerer's  power. 
We  were  never  tired  of  staring  at  them  and  at  the 
country,  which  also  had  something  supernatural  in 
its  aspect.  It  was  like  an  everlasting  billiard-table, 
without  an  end.  It  is  a  strange  feeling,  I  can  tell 
you,  after  being  three  weeks  at  sea,  to  run  into  a 
harbor  which  is  no  harbor,  and  to  land  upon  a  shore 
which  is  only  hali*  land,  and  which  seems  each 
moment  about  to  roll  away  in  waves  irom  under 


76  ADVENTUEES   IN   TEXAS. 

your  feet.  Our  fellow-passengers,  several  of  whom 
had  now  landed  and  joined  us,  gazed  about  them  as 
puzzled  and  bewildered  as  we  were,  and  hastened  into 
the  block-house  with  a  speed  which  showed  them  to 
be  assailed  by  the  same  uneasy  feeling  as  ourselves. 
Looking  out  from  the  block-house,  the  interminable 
expanse  of  meadow  and  ocean,  was  blended  into 
one  vast  plain,  out  of  which  the  building  rose  like  a 
diminutive  island.  It  was  with  a  sensation  of  great 
relief  that  we  once  more  found  ourselves  on  board 
our  schooner. 

It  took  us  three  full  days  to  ascend  the  river 
Brazos  to  the  town  of  Brazoria,  a  distance  of  only 
thirty  miles.  On  the  first  day  nothing  but  the  ever- 
lasting meadow  was  to  be  seen  on  either  hand ;  but, 
on  the  second,  we  got  nearer  to  islands  :  the  pasture 
became  a  park,  dotted  with  magnificent  groups  of 
trees.  Not  a  sign  of  man  was  visible  in  this  stu- 
pendous park — a  boundless  ocean  of  grass  and  foli- 
age. An  ocean  of  this  kind  has  a  far  more  powerful 
efiect  upon  those  who  for  the  first  time  wander 
through  its  solitudes,  than  has  an  ocean  of  water. 
We  saw  this  exemplified  in  our  traveling  compan- 
ions, land-seekei-s  like  ourselves,  with  the  sole  dif- 
ference   that,    not    being    overburthened    with    the 


/' 


A  SCAMPEE  m  THE  PEAIKIE.  W 

circulating  medium,  they  had  come  without  scrip. 
They  were  by  no  means  of  the  class  of  sentimental 
travelers — nothing  of  the  Yorick  about  them — but, 
on  the  contrary,  were  wild,  rough  fellows,  who  had 
played  all  sorts  of  mad  pranks  during  the  three 
weeks'  voyage.  Here,  however,  they  all,  without  ex- 
ception, became  quiet  —  nay,  sedate  and  serious. 
The  very  wildest  of  them,  and  some  of  them  really 
were  as  rude  and  desperate  a  lot  as  ever  roamed 
the  world  round  in  search  of  adventures — grew 
taciturn,  and  gave  utterance  to  none  of  the  coarse 
oaths  and  horrible  blasphemies  with  which,  when  at 
sea,  they  had  frequently  disgusted  us.  They  behaved 
like  people  who  had  just  entered  a  church.  All  their 
countenances  wore  an  expression  of  gravity  and  awe. 
And,  in  a  certain  sense,  we  surely  might  be  said  to 
have  entered  one  of  God's  temples ;  for  what  more 
noble  temple  could  be  erected  in  his  honor  than  the 
magnificent  scene  around  usl  All  was  so  still,  and 
solemn,  and  majestic!  Forest  and  meadow,  trees  and 
grass,  all  so  pure  and  fresh,  as  if  just  from  the  hand 
of  the  mighty  and  eternal  Artificer.  No  trace  of 
man's  sinful  hand,  but  all  the  beautiful,  immaculate 
work  of  God ! 
Fifteen  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river  Brazos, 


78  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

we  entered  the  first  forest.  Sycamores,  and,  further 
on,  pecan-trees,  waved  on  either  hand  over  the  water. 
We  saw  a  herd  of  deer,  and  a  large  flock  of  wild 
turkeys,  both  of  which,  already  tolerably  shy,  took 
to  flight  on  our  appearance.  The  quality  of  the  land 
was,  as  will  be  easily  imagined,  the  point  to  which 
our  attention  was  chiefly  directed.  On  the  coast  we 
had  found  it  light  and  sandy,  with  a  very  thin  crust 
of  good  soil,  but  without  any  signs  of  swamp  or 
slime ;  further  from  the  sea,  the  crust  or  fertile  sur- 
face increased  in  thickness  from  one  to  four — eight  — 
twelve  —  at  last  fifteen — and,  at  Brazoria,  twenty  feet 
over  the  bed  of  sand  and  loam.  As  yet  we  had  seen 
nothing  like  a  hillock  or  a  stone;  and,  indeed,  it 
would  have  been  very  difficult,  in  a  district  a  hun- 
dred miles  broad  and  long,  to  have  found  a  stone  as 
big  as  a  pigeon's  eg^.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was 
wood  in  plenty  for  houses  and  fences  ;  so  we  had  no 
cause  for  anxiety  in  that  respect.  Our  hopes  grew 
brighter  each  mile  that  we  advanced. 

On  our  arrival  at  Brazoria,  however,  those  san- 
guine hopes  received  a  cruel  blow.  At  the  time  I 
speak  of — namely,  in  the  year  1832 — Brazoria  was 
an  important  town — for  Texas,  that  is  to  say — con- 
ftisting  of  above  thirty  houses,  three  of  which  wero 


A  SCAMPEB  IN  THE   PRAERIE.  79 

of  brick,  three  of  boards,  and  the  remainder  of  logs, 
all  thorouglily  American,  with  the  streets  arranged 
in  the  American  manner,  in  straight  lines  and  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  The  only  objection  to  the 
place  was,  that  in  the  spring,  at  the  season  of  the 
floods,  it  was  all  under  water ;  but  the  worthy  Brazo- 
rians  overlooked  this  little  inconvenience,  in  consid- 
eration of  the  inexhaustible  fertility  of  the  soil.  It 
was  early  in  March  when  we  arrived,  but  we  found 
already  an  abundance  of  new  potatoes,  beans,  peas, 
and  the  most  delicious  artichokes  that  ever  rejoiced 
an  epicure.  But  we  also  found  something  else,  much 
less  agreeable  to  my  friend  and  myself,  and  that 
was,  that  our  scrip  was  not  quite  so  good  as  it 
might  be,  and — like  much  other  scrips,  past,  present, 
and  to  come — bore  a  stronger  resemblance  to  waste 
paper  than  to  bank-notes.  Our  unpleasant  doubts 
became  a  fatal  certainty  on  the  arrival  of  William 
Austin,  son  of  Colonel  Austin.  He  gave  us  to  read 
the  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Mexican  Con- 
gress, after  perusing  which,  we  were  within  an  ace 
of  lighting  our  cigars  with  our  certificates. 

It  appeared  that,  in  the  year  1824,  the  Mexican 
Congress  had  passed  an  act,  having  for  its  object  the 
encouragement  of  emigration  from  the  United  States 


80  ADVENTTJEES   IN  TEXAS. 

to  Texas.  In  consequence  of  this  act,  an  agreement 
was  entered  into  with  contractors,  or  emjpresarios^ 
as  they  called  them  in  Mexico,  who  bound  themselves 
to  bring  a  certain  number  of  settlers  into  Texas 
within  a  given  time,  at  their  own  charges,  and  with- 
out any  expense  to  the  Mexican  government.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Mexican  government  had  en- 
gaged to  furnish  land  to  these  emigrants  at  the  rate 
of  five  square  leagues  to  every  hundred  families, 
but  to  this  agreement  the  special  condition  was  at- 
tached, that  all  settlers  should  be,  or  become,  Roman 
Catholics.  Failing  this,  and  until  they  gave  sat- 
isfactory proofs  of  their  belonging  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  the  validity  of  their  claims  to  the  land 
was  not  recognized,  and  they  were  liable  any  day 
to  be  turned  out  of  the  country  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet. 

Of  all  this,  the  New  York  "  Galveston-Bay-and- 
Texas-Land-Company,"  like  smart  Yankees  as  they 
were,  had  wisely  said  not  a  word  to  us,  but  had  sold 
us  the  land  with  the  assurance  that  it  had  been  placed 
at  their  disposal  by  the  Mexican  government,  on  the 
sole  condition  of  their  importing  into  it,  within  the 
year,  a  certain  number  of  settlers.  Such  was  the 
tenor  of  their  verbal  and  written  declarations,  such 


A   SCAMPER   IN   THE   PRAIRIE.  W 

the  tenor  of  the  scrip  ;  trusting  to  which,  we  had  set 

out  on  our  wild-goose  chase.     Clear  it  now  was  that 

we  had  been  duped  and  taken  in ;  equally  evident 

that  the  EomanJCatholic  Mexican  government  would 

have  nothing  to  say  to  us  heretics. 

This  information  threw  us  into  no  small  perplexity. 

Our  Yankee  friends  at  Brazoria,  however,  laughed  at 

our  dilemma,  and  told  us  we  were  only  in  the  same 

plight  as   hundreds   of   our  countrymen,   who  had 

come  to  Texas  in  total  ignorance  of  thiei  condition, 

but  who  had  not  the  less  taken  possession  of  their 

land  and  settled  there;   that  they  themselves  were 

among  the  number,  and  that  although  it  was  just  as 

likely^they  would  turn  negroes  as  Roman  Catholics, 

they  had  no  idea  of  being  turned  out  of  their  houses 

and  plantations ;  that,  at  any  rate,  if  the  Mexicans 

tried  it,  they  had  their  rifles  with  them,  and  should 

be  apt,   they  reckoned,  to  bum  powder  before  they 

allowed  themselves  to  be  kicked  off  such  an  almighty 

fine   piece  of  soil.     So,  after  a  while,  we   began   to 

think,  that  as  we  had  paid  our  money,  and  come  so 

far,  we  might  do  as   others   had   done  before  us  — 

occupy  our  land,  and  wait  the  course  of  events.    The 

next   day  we  each   bought  a  horse,  or  mustang^  as 

they  call  them  there,  which  animals  were  selling  at 
4* 


82  ADVEITTUKES  IN  TEXAS. 

Brazoria,  for  next  to  nothing,  and  rode  out  into  the 
prairie  to  look  for  a  convenient  spot  to  settle. 

These  mustangs  .  are  small  horses,  rarely  above 
fourteen  hands  high,  and  are  descended  from  the 
Spanish  breed  introduced  by  the  original  conquerors 
of  the  country.  During  the  three  centuries  that 
have  elapsed  since  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  they  have 
increased  and  multiplied  to  an  extraordinary  extent, 
and  are  to  be  found  in  vast  droves  in  the  Texan 
prairies,  although  they  now  begin  to  be  somewhat 
scarcer.  They  are  taken  with  the  lasso^  concern- 
ing which  instrument  or  weapon,  I  will  here  say  a 
word  or  two,  notwithstanding  that  it  has  been  often 
described. 

The  lasso  is  usually  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  long, 
very  flexible,  and  composed  of  strips  of  twisted  ox- 
hide. One  end  is  fastened  to  the  saddle,  and  the 
other,  which  forms  a  running  noose,  held  in  the  hand 
of  the  hunter  who,  thus  equipped,  rides  out  into  the 
prairie.  When  he  discovers  a  troop  of  wild  horses 
he  maneuvers  to  get  windward  of  them,  and  tlien  to 
approach  as  near  to  them  as  possible.  K  he  be  an 
experienced  hand,  the  horses  seldom  or  never  escape 
him ;  and  as  soon  as  he  finds  himself  within  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  of  them,  he  throws,  the  noose  with 


A  80AMPEB  IN  THE  PEAIEIE.  88 

unernng  aim  over  the  neck  of  the  one  he  nas 
selected  for  his  prey.  This  done,  he  turns  his  own 
horse  sharp  round,  gives  him  the  spur,  and  gallops 
away,  dragging  his  unfortunate  captive  after  him, 
breathless,  and  with  his  windpipe  so  compressed  by 
the  noose,  that  he  is  unable  to  make  the  smallest 
resistance,  but,  after  a  few  yards,  falls  headlong  to 
the  ground,  and  lies  motionless  and  almost  lifeless, 
sometimes  indeed  badly  hurt  and  disabled.  From 
that  day  forward,  the  horse  which  has  been  thus 
caught,  never  forgets  the  lasso ;  the  mere  sight  of  it 
makes  him  tremble  in  every  limb;  and  however 
wild  he  may  be,  it  is  sufficient  to  show  it  to  him,  or 
to  lay  it  on  his  neck,  to  render  him  as  tame  and 
docile  as  a  lamb.  • 

The  horse  taken,  next  comes  the  breaking  in, 
which  is  effected  in  a  no  less  brutal  manner  than  his 
capture.  The  eyes  of  the  unfortunate  animal  are 
covered  with  a  bandage,  and  a  tremendous  bit,  a 
pound  weight  or  more,  clapped  into  his  mouth  ;  the 
horse-breaker  puts  on  a  pair  of  spurs  six  inches  long, 
with  rowels  like  pen-knives,  and  jumping  on  his 
back,  urges  him  to  his  utmost  speed.  If  the  horse 
tries  to  rear,  or  turns  restive,  one  pull,  and  not  a 
very  hard  one  either,  at  the  instrument  of  torture 


$4  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

they  call  a  bit,  is  sufficient  to  tear  his  mouth  tc 
shreds  and  cause  the  blood  to  flow  in  streams.  I 
have  myself  seen  horses'  teeth  broken  with  these  bar- 
barous bits.  The  poor  beast  whinnies  and  groans 
with  pain  and  terror  ;  but  there  is  no  help  for  him  ; 
the  spurs  are  at  his  flanks,  and  on  he  goes  full  gallop, 
till  he  is  ready  to  sink  from  fatigue  and  exhaustion. 
He  then  has  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  rest  allowed  him ; 
but  scarcely  has  he  recovered  breath,  which  has  been 
ridden  and  spurred  out  of  his  body,  when  he  is  again 
mounted,  and  has  to  go  through  the  same  violent 
process  as  before.  K  he  breaks  down  during  thia, 
rude  trial,  he  is  either  knocked  on  the  head  or  driven 
away  as  useless ;  but  if  he  holds  out,  he  is  marked 
with  a  hot  iron,*  and  left  to  graze  on  the  prairie. 
Henceforward,  there  is  no  particular  difficulty  iu 
catching  him  when  wanted ;  his  wildness  is  com- 
pletely punished  out  of  him,  but  for  it  is  substituted 
the  most  confirmed  vice  and  malice  that  can  possibly 
be  conceived.  These  mustangs  are  unquestionably 
the  most  deceitful  and  spiteful  of  all  the  equine  race. 
They  seem  perpetually  looking  out  for  an  opportunity 
of  playing  their  master  a  trick ;  and  very  soon  after 
I  got  possession  of  mine,  I  was  near  paying  for  him 
in  a  way  that  I  had  certainly  not  calculated  upon. 


A  SCAMPEB  IN  THE   PEAIEIE.  85 

"We  were  going  to  Bolivar  and  had  to  cross  the 
river  Brazos.  I  was  the  last  but  one  to  get  into  the 
boat,  and  was  leading  my  horse  carelessly  by  the 
bridle.  Just  as  I  was  about  to  step  ip,  a  sudden 
jerk,  and  a  cry  of  "Mind  your  beast!"  made  me 
jump  on  one  side  ;  and  lucky  was  it  that  I  did  so. 
My  mustang  had  suddenly  sprung,  and  thrown  him- 
self forward  upon  me  with  such  force  and  fury,  that, 
as  I  got  out  of  his  way,  his  fore  feet  went  completely 
through  the  bottom  of  the  boat.  I  never  in  my  life 
saw  an  animal  in  such  a  paroxysm  of  rage.  He 
curled  his  lips  till  his  whole  range  of  teeth  was  visi- 
ble, his  eyes  literally  shot  fire,  the  foam  flew  from  his 
mouth,  and  he  gave  a  wild  screaming  neigh  that  had 
something  quite  diabolical  in  its  sound.  While  I 
stood  perfectly  thunderstruck  at  this  outbreak,  one 
of  the  party  took  a  lasso  and  very  quietly  laid  it 
over  the  animal's  neck.  The  effect  was  magical. 
With  closed  mouth,  drooping  ears,  and  head  low, 
there  stood  the  mustang,  meek  and  docile  as  any  old 
jackass.  The  change  was  so  sudden  and  comical, 
that  we  all  burst  out  laughing  ;  although,  when  I 
came  to  reflect  on  the  danger  I  had  run,  it  required 
all  my  love  of  horses  to  prevent  me  from  shooting 
the  brute  on  the  spot. 


86  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

Mounted  on  tliis  ticklish  steed,  and  in  company  with 
my  friend,  I  made  various  excursions  to  Bolivar,  Mar- 
ion, Columbia,  Anahuac — incipient  cities,  consisting 
of  from  five  to  twenty  houses.  We  also  visited 
numerous  plantations  and  clearings,  to  the  owners 
of  some  of  which  we  were  known  or  had  letters  of 
introduction ;  but  either  with  or  without  such  recom- 
mendations, we  always  found  a  hearty  welcome  and 
hospitable  reception,  and  it  was  rare  that  we  were 
allowed  to  pay  for  our  entertainment. 

"We  arrived  one  day  at  a  clearing,  which  lay  a  few 
miles  oif  the  way  from  Harrisburg  to  San  Felipe  de 
Austin,  and-  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Neal.  lie  had  been 
three  years  in  the  country,  occupying  himself  with 
the  breeding  of  cattle,  which  is  unquestionably  the 
most  agreeable,  as  well  as  profitable  occupation 
that  can  be  followed  in  Texas.  He  had  between 
seven  and  eight  hundred  head  of  cattle,  and  from 
fifty  to  sixty  horses,  all  mustangs.  His  plantation, 
like  nearly  all  the  plantations  in  Texas  at  that  time, 
was  as  yet  in  a  very  rough  state ;  and  his  house, 
although  roomy  and  comfortable  enough  on  the  in- 
side, was  built  of  unhewn  tree-trunks,  in  a  true 
backwoodsman  style.  It  was  situated  on  the  border 
of  one  of  the  islands,  or  group  of  trees,  between  two 


A  BCAMPEE   IN  THE   PRAIRIE.  8? 

gigantic  sjcamores,  which  sheltered  it  from  the  snn 
and  wind.  In  front  and  as  far  as  could  be  seen,  lay 
the  prairie,  with  its  waving  grass  and  many-colored 
flowers;  behind  the  dwelling  arose  the  cluster  of 
forest  trees  in  all  their  primeval  majesty,  laced  and 
bound  together  by  an  infinity  of  wild  vines,  which 
shot  their  tendrils  and  clinging  branches  hundreds  of 
feet  upward  to  the  very  top  of  the  trees,  embracing 
and  covering  the  whole  island  with  a  green  net-work, 
and  converting  it  into  an  immense  bower  of  vine 
leaves,  which  would  have  been  no  unsuitable  abode 
for  Bacchus  and  his  train. 

These  islands  are  one  of  the  most  enchanting 
features  of  Texan  scenery.  Of  infinite  variety  and 
beauty  of  form,  and  unrivaled  in  the  growth  and 
magnitude  of  the  trees  composing  them,  they  are  of 
all  shapes  —  circular,  parallelograms,  hexagons,  octa- 
gons—  some  again  twisting  and  winding  like  dark 
green  snakes  over  the  brighter  surface  of  the  prairie. 
In  no  park  or  artificially  laid-out  grounds  could  any 
thing  be  found  equaling  these  natural  shrubberies  in 
beauty  and  symmetry.  In  the  morning  and  evening 
especially,  when  surrounded  by  a  sort  of  vail  of 
liglit-grayish  mist,  and  with  horizontal  beams  of  the 
rising  or  setting  sun  gleaming  through  them,  they 


88  ADVENTUEE8   IN  TEXAS. 

offer  pictures  which  it  is  impossible  to  wearj  of 
admiriDg. 

Mr.  Neal  was  a  jovial  Kentuckian,  and  he  received 
us  with  the  greatest  hospitality,  and  only  asking  in 
return  all  the  news  we  could  give  him  from  the 
States.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine,  without  having 
witnessed  it,  the  feverish  eagerness  and  curiosity 
with  which  all  intelligence  from  their  native  countr}'- 
is  sought  after  and  listened  to  by  these  dwellers  in 
the  desert.  Men,  women  and  children  crowded 
round  us ;  and  though  we  had  arrived  in  the  after- 
noon, it  was  near  sunrise  before  we  could  escape 
from  the  inquiries  by  which  we  were  overwhelmed, 
and  retire  to  the  beds  that  had  been  prepared  for  us. 

I  had  not  slept  very  long  when  I  was  roused  by 
our  worthy  host.  He  was  going  out  to  catch  twenty 
or  thirty  oxen,  wanted  for  the  market  at  l^ew 
Orleans.  As  the  kind  of  chase  which  takes  place 
after  these  animals  is  very  interesting,  and  rarely 
dangerous,  we  willingly  accepted  the  invitation  to 
accompany  him;  and  having  dressed  and  break- 
fasted in  all  haste,  got  upon  our  mustangs  and  rode 
off  into  the  prairie. 

The  party  was  half  a  dozen  strong,  consisting  of 
Mr.  Neal,  my  friend  and  myself,  and  three  negroes. 


A  SOAMPES   m  THE   PBAIEIE.  89 

What  we  had  to  do  was  to  drive  the  cattle,  which 
were  grazing  on  the  prairie  in  herds  of  from  thirty  to 
fifty  head,  to  the  house,  and  then  those  selected  for 
the  market  were  to  be  taken  with  the  lasso  and  sent 
off  to  Brazoria. 

After  riding  four  or  five  miles,  we  came  in  sight  of 
a  drove ;  splendid  animals,  standing  very  high,  and 
of  most  symmetrical  form.  The  horns  of  these 
cattle  are  of  unusual  length,  and  in  the  distance,  have 
more  the  appearance  of  stags'  antlers  than  of  bulls' 
horns.  We  approached  the  herd  to  within  a  quarter 
of  a  mile.  They  remained  quite  quiet.  We  rode 
round  them,  and  in  like  manner  got  in  rear  of  a  second 
and  third  drove,  and  then  spread  out,  so  as  to  fonn 
a  half  circle  and  drive  the  cattle  toward  the  house. 

Hitherto  my  mustang  had  behaved  exceedingly 
well,  cantering  freely  along,  and  not  attempting  to 
play  any  tricks.  I  had  scarcely,  however,  left  the 
remainder  of  the  party  a  couple  of  hundred  yards, 
when  the  devil  by  which  he  was  possessed  began  to 
wake  up.  The  mustangs  belonging  to  the  plantation 
were  grazing  some  three-quarters  of  a  mile  off;  and 
no  sooner  did  my  beast  catch  sight  of  them,  than  he 
commenced  practicing  every  species  of  jump  and 
leap  that  it  is  possible  for  a  horse  to  execute,  and 


90  ADVEimJEES  m  texab. 

many  of  a  nature  so  extraordinary,  that  I  should  havo 
thought  that  no  brute  that  ever  went  on  four  legs 
M'ould  have  been  able  to  accomplish  them.  He  shied, 
reared,  pranced,  leaped  forward,  backward,  and  side- 
ways; in  shoit,  played  such  infernal  pranks,  that, 
although  a  practiced  rider,  I  found  it  no  easy  matter 
to  keep  my  seat.  I  heartily  regretted  that  I  had 
brought  no  lasso  with  me,  which  would  have  tamed 
him  at  once,  and  that,  contrary  to  Mr.  Neal's  advice, 
I  had  put  on  my  American  bit  instead  of  a  Mexican 
one.  Without  these  auxiliaries,  all  my  horsemanship 
was  useless.  The  brute  galloped  like  a  mad  creature 
some  five  hundred  yards,  caring  nothing  for  my 
efforts  to  stop  him;  and  then,  finding  himself  close  to 
the  troop  of  mustangs,  he  stopped  suddenly  short, 
threw  his  head  between  his  fore-legs,  and  his  hind 
feet  into  the  air,  with  such  vicious  violence,  that  I  was 
pitched  clean  out  of  the  saddle.  Before  I  well  knew 
where  I  was,  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  put 
his  fore  feet  on  the  bridle,  pull  bit  and  bridoon  out  of 
his  mouth,  and  then,  with  a  neigh  of  exultation, 
spring  into  the  midst  of  the  herd  of  mustangs. 

I  got  up  out  of  the  long  grass  in  a  towering  passion. 
One  of  the  negroes  who  was  nearest  to  me  came  gal- 
loping to  my  assistance,  and  begged  me  to  let  the 


A   SCAMPEE  IN  THE  PRAIRIE.  91 

beast  run  for  a  while,  and  that  when  Anthony,  the 
huntsman,  came,  he  would  soon  catch  him.  I  was 
too  angry  to  listen  to  reason,  and  I  ordered  him  to 
get  off  his  horse,  and  let  me  mount.  The  black 
begged  and  prayed  of  me  not  to  ride  alter  the  brute ; 
and  Mr.  Neal,  who  was  some  distance  off,  shouted  to 
me,  as  loud  as  he  could,  for  Heaven's  sake,  to  stop ; 
that  I  did  not  know  what  it  was  to  chase  a  wild  horse 
in  a  Texan  prairie,  and  that  I  must  not  fancy  myself 
in  the  meadows  of  Louisiana  or  Florida.  I  paid  no 
attention  to  all  this — I  was  in  too  great  a  rage  at  the 
trick  the  beast  had  played  me ;  and,  jumping  on  the 
negro's  horse,  I  galloped  away  like  mad. 

My  rebellious  steed  was  grazing  quietly  with  his 
companions,  and  he  allowed  me  to  come  within  a 
couple  of  hundred  paces  of  him ;  but  just  as  I  had 
prepared  the  lasso,  which  was  fastened  to  the  negro's 
saddle-bow,  he  gave  a  start,  and  galloped  off  some 
distance  further,  I  after  him.  Again  he  made  a 
pause,  and  munched  a  mouthful  of  grass  —  then  off 
again  for  another  half  mile.  This  time  I  had  great 
hopes  of  catching  him,  for  he  let  me  come  within  a 
hundred  yards  ;  but,  just  as  I  was  creeping  up  to  him, 
away  he  went  with  one  of  his  shrill  neighs.  When  I 
galloped  fast,  he  went  faster ;  when  I  rode  slowly,  he 


92  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

slackened  his  pace.  At  least  ten  times  did  he  let 
me  approach  him  within  a  couple  of  hundred  yards, 
without  for  that  being  a  bit  nearer  getting  hold  of 
him.  It  was  certainly  high  time  to  desist  from  such 
a  mad  chase,  but  I  never  dreamed  of  doing  so ;  and 
indeed  the  longer  it  lasted,  the  more  obstinate  I  got. 
I  rode  on  after  the  beast,  who  let  me  come  nearer  and 
nearer,  and  then  darted  off  again  with  his  loud,  laugh- 
ing neigh.  It  was  this  infernal  neigh  that  made  me 
so  savage  —  there  was  something  spiteful  and  tri- 
umphant in  it,  as  though  the  animal  knew  he  was 
making  a  fool  of  me,  and  exulted  in  so  doing.  At 
last,  however,  I  got  so  sick  of  my  horse-hunt  thai  I 
determined  to  make  a  last  trial,  and,  if  that  failed,  to 
turn  back.  The  runaway  had  stopped  near  one  of 
the  islands  of  trees,  and  was  grazing  quite  close  to  its 
edge.  I  thought  that,  if  I  were  to  creep  round  to  the 
other  side  of  the  island,  and  then  steal  across  it, 
through  the  trees,  I  should  be  able  to  throw  the  lasso 
over  bis  head,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  drive  him  back  to 
the  house.  This  plan  I  put  in  execution :  rode  round 
the  island,  then  through  it,  lasso  in  hand,  and  as 
softly  as  if  I  had  been  riding  over  eggs.  To  my  con- 
sternation, however,  on  arriving  at  the  edge  of  the 
trees,  and    at   the  exact    spot  where,  only  a  few 


A  SOAMPEB   IN  THE   PEAIRIE.  93 

minutes  before,  I  had  seen  the  mustang  grazing,  no 
signs  of  him  were  to  be  perceived.  I  made  the 
circuit  of  the  island,  but  in  vain — the  animal  had 
disappeared.  With  a  hearty  curse,  I  put  spurs  to  my 
horse,  and  started  off  to  ride  back  to  the  plantation. 

Neither  the  plantation,  the  cattle,  nor  my  compan- 
ions, were  visible,  it  is  true;  but  this  gave  me  no 
uneasiness.  I  felt  sure  that  I  knew  the  direction  in 
which  I  had  come,  and  that  the  island  I  had  just  left 
was  one  which  was  visible  from  the  house,  while 
all  around  me  were  such  numerous  tracks  of  horses, 
that  the  possibility  of  my  having  lost  my  way  never 
occurred  to  me,  and  I  rode  on  quite  unconcernedly. 

After  riding  for  about  ^n  hour,  I  began  to  find  the 
time  rather  long.  I  looked  at  my  watch  :  it  was  past 
one  o'clock.  We  had  started  at  nine,  and,  allowing 
an  hour  and  a  half  to  have  been  spent  in  finding  the 
cattle,  I  had  passed  nearly  three  hours  in  my  wild 
and  unsuccessful  hunt.  I  began  to  think  I  must  have 
got  further  from  the  plantation  than  I  had  as  yet 
supposed. 

It  was  toward  the  end  of  March,  the  day  clear  and 
warm,  just  like  a  May-day  in  the  Southern  States. 
The  sun  now  shone  brightly  out,  but  the  early  part  of 
rlie  morning  had  been  somewhat  foggy ;  and  as  I  had 


9i  ADVENTtTRES   IN  TEXAS. 

only  arrived  at  the  plantation  the  day  before,  and 
had  passed  the  whole  afternoon  and  evening  indoors, 
I  had  had  no  opportunity  of  getting  acquainted  with 
the  bearings  of  the  house.  This  reflection  made  me 
rather  uneasy,  particularly  when  I  remembered  the 
entreaties  of  the  negro,  and  the  loud  exhortations  Mr. 
Neal  addressed  to  me  as  I  rode  away.  I  said  to 
myself,  however,  that  I  could  not  be  more  than  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  from  the  plantation,  that  I  should  soon 
come  in  sight  of  the  herds  of  cattle,  and  that  then 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  finding  my  way.  But 
when  I  had  ridden  another  hour  without  seeing  the 
smallest  sign  either  of  man  or  beast,  I  got  seriously 
uneasy.  In  my  impatien(j^,  I  abused  poor  IN'eal  for 
not  sending  somebody  to  find  me.  His  huntsman,  I 
had  heard,  was  gone  to  Anahuac,  and  would  not  be 
back  for  two  or  three  days ;  but  he  might  have  sent  a 
couple  of  his  lazy  negroes  :  or,  if  he  had  only  fired  a 
shot  or  two  as  a  signal.  I  stopped  and  listened,  in 
hopes  of  hearing  the  crack  of  a  rifle.  But  the  deep- 
est stillness  reigned  around,  scarcely  the  chirp  of  a 
bird  was  heard  —  all  nature  seemed  to  be  taking  the 
siesta.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  was  a  waving 
sea  of  grass,  here  and  there  an  island  of  trees,  but 
not  a  trace  of  a  human  being.    At  last  I  thought  I 


A    BCAilPER   IN   THE   PEATRIE.  95 

had  made  a  discovery.  The  nearest  clump  of  trees 
was  undoubtedly  the  same  which  I  had  admired  and 
pointed  out  to  my  companions  soon  after  we  left  the 
house.  It  bore  a  fantastical  resemblance  to  a  snake 
coiled  up  and  about  to  dart  upon  its  prey.  About  six 
or  seven  miles  from  the  plantation,  we  had  passed  it 
on  our  right  hand,  and  if  I  now  kept,  upon  my  left,  I 
could  not  fail  to  be  going  in  a  proper  direction.  So 
said,  so  done.  I  trotted  on  most  perseveringly  toward 
the  point  of  the  horizon  where  I  felt  certain  the  bouse 
must  lie.  One  hour  passed,  then  a  second,  then  a 
third :  every  now  and  then  1  stopped  and  listened, 
but  nothing  was  audible  —  not  a  shot  nor  a  shout. 
But  although  I  heard  nothing,  I  saw  something  which 
gave  me  no  great  pleasure.  In  the  direction  in  which 
we  had  ridden  out,  the  grass  was  very  abundant  and 
the  flowers  scarce  ;  whereas,  the  part  of  the  prairie  in 
which  I  now  found  myself,  presented  the  appearance 
of  a  perfect  flower-garden,  with  scarcely  a  square  foot 
of  green  to  be  seen.  The  most  variegated  carpet  of 
flowers  I  ever  beheld  lay  unrolled  before  me;  red,  yel- 
low, violet,  blue — every  color,  every  tint  was  there  ; 
millions  of  magnificent  prairie  roses,  tuberoses,  asters, 
dalilias,  and  fifty  other  kinds  of  flowers.  The  finest 
artificial  garden  in  the  world  sinks  into  insignificance 


96  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

when  compared  with  this  parterre  of  nature's  own 
planting.  My  "horse  could  hardly  make  his  way 
through  the  wilderness  of  flowers,  and  I,  for  a  time, 
remained  lost  in  admiration  of  this  scene  of  extraor- 
dinary heauty.  The  prairie,  in  the  distance,  looked  as 
if  clothed  with  rainbows,  that  waved  to  and  fro  over 
its  surface. 

But  the  difficulties  and  anxieties  of  my  situation 
Boon  banished  all  other  thoughts,  and  I  rode  on  with 
complete  indifference  through  scenes  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  would  have  captivated  my  entire 
attention.  All  the  stories  I  had  heard  of  mishaps  in 
these  endless  prairies,  recurred  in  vivid  coloring  to 
my  memory — not  mere  backwoodsmen's  legends,  but 
facts  well  authenticated  by  persons  of  undoubted 
veracity,  who  had  warned  me,  before  I  came  to  Texas, 
against  venturing  without  guide  or  compass  into  these 
dangerous  wilds.  Even  men  who  had  been  long  in 
the  country  were  often  known  to  lose  themselves,  and 
to  wander  for  days  and  weeks  over  these  oceans  of 
grass,  where  no  hill  or  variety  of  surface  offers  a  land- 
mark to  the  traveler.  In  summer  and  autumn,  such  a 
position  would  have  one  danger  the  less  —  that  is  to 
say,  there  would  be  no  risk  of  dying  of  hunger ;  for 
at  those  seasons  the  most  delicious  fruits — grapes, 


A   SCAMPER   IN   THE    PRALBIE  97 

plums,  peaches,  and  others  —  are  to  be  found  in  abun- 
dance. But  we  were  now  in  early  spring,  and  al- 
though I  saw  numbers  of  peach  and  plum-trees,  they 
were  only  in  blossom.  Of  game,  also,  there  was 
plenty,  both  fur  and  feather  ;  but  I  had  no  gun,  and 
nothing  appeared  more  probable  than  that  I  should  be 
starved,  although  surrounded  by  food,  and  in  one  of 
the  most  fruitful  countries  in  the  world.  This  thought 
flashed  suddenly  across  me,  and  for  a  moment  my 
heart  sunk  within  me  as  I  first  perceived  the  real 
danger  of  my  position. 

After  a  time,  however,  other  ideas  came  to  console 
me.  I  had  been  already  four  weeks  in  the  country, 
and  had  ridden  over  a  large  slice  of  it  in  every  di- 
rection, always  through  prairies,  and  I  had  never  had 
any  difficulty  in  finding  my  way.  True,  but  then  I 
had  always  had  a  compass,  and  been  in  company.  It 
was  this  sort  of  over-confidence  and  feeling  of  security 
that  had  made  me  adventure  so  rashly,  and  in  spite  of 
all  warning,  in  pursuit  of  the  mustang.  I  had  not 
waited  to  reflect,  that  a  little  more  than  four  weeks' 
experience  was  necessary  to  make  one  acquainted  with 
the  bearings  of  a  district  three  times  as  big  as  New 
York  State.  Still  I  thought  it  impossible  that  I  should 
have  got  so  far  out  of  the  right  track  as  not  to  be  able 


y»  ADVENTURES    IN   TEXAS. 

to  find  the  house  before  nightfall,  although  that  was 
now  rapidly  approaching.  Indeed,  the  first  shades 
of  evening,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  gave  this  persua- 
sion increased  strength.  Home-bred  and  gently  nur- 
tured as  I  was,  my  life,  before  coming  to  Texas,  had 
been  by  no  means  one  of  adventure,  and  I  was  so 
used  to  sleep  with  a  roof  over  my  head,  that  when  I 
saw  it  getting  dusk  I  felt  certain  I  could  not  be  far 
from  the  house.  The  idea  fixed  itself  so  strongly  in 
my  mind,  that  I  involuntarily  spurred  my  mustang, 
and  trotted  on,  peering  out  through  the  now»  fast- 
gathering  gloom,  in  expectation  of  seeing  a  light. 
Several  times  I  fancied  I  heard  the  barking  of  the 
dogs,  the  cattle  lowing,  or  the  merry  laugh  of  the 
children. 

"  Hurra!  there  is  the  house  at  last  —  I  can  see  the 
lights  in  the  parlor  windows." 

I  urged  my  horse  on,  but  when  I  came  near  the 
house,  it  proved  to  be  an  island  of  trees.  What  I  had 
taken  for  candles  were  fire-flies,  that  now  issued  in 
swarms  from  out  of  the  darkness  of  the  islands,  and 
spread  themselves  over  the  prairie,  darting  about  in 
every  direction,  their  small  blue  flames  literally  light- 
ing up  the  plain,  and  making  it  appear  as  if  I  were 
surrounded  by  a  sea  of  Bengal  fire.    Nothing  could 


A   SCAMPEF.   IN   THE   PRAIRIE.  99 

be  more  bewildering  than  such  a  ride  as  mine,  on  a 
warm  March  night,  through  the  interminable,  never- 
varjing  prairie ;  overhead  the  deep  blue  firmament, 
with  its'  host  of  bright  stars;  at  my  feet,  and  all 
around,  an  ocean  of  magical  light,  myriads  of  fire-flies 
floating  upon  the  soft,  still  air.  It  was  like  a  scene  of 
enchantment.  I  could  distinguish  every  blade  of 
grass,  every  flower,  every  leaf  on  the  trees — but  all 
in  a  strange,  unnatural  sort  of  light,  and  in  altered 
colors.  Tuberoses  and  asters,  prairie  roses  and  gera- 
niums, dahlias  and  vine  branches,  began  to  wave  and 
move,  to  range  themselves  in  ranks  and  rows.  The 
whole  vegetable  world  around  me  appeared  to  dance, 
as  the  swarms  of  living  lights  passed  over  it. 

Suddenly,  from  out  of  the  sea  of  flre,  sounded  a 
loud  and  long-drawn  note.  I  stopped,  listened,  and 
gazed  around  me.  It  was  not  repeated,  and  I  rode  on. 
Again  the  same  sound,  but  this  time  the  cadence  was 
sad  and  plaintive.  Again  I  made  a  halt,  and  listened. 
It  was  repeated  a  third  time  in  a  yet  more  melancholy 
tone,  and  I  recognized  it  as  the  cry  of  a  whippowil. 
Presently  it  was  answered  from  a  neighboring  island 
by  a  katydid.  My  heart  leaped  for  joy  at  hearing  the 
note  of  this  bird,  the  native  minstrel  of  my  own  dear 
Maryland.    In  an  instant  the  house  where  I  was  bom 


100  ADVENTURES   IN   'l-EXAS. 

Btood  before  the  eyesight  of  my  imagination.  There 
were  the  negro  huts,  the  garden,  the  plantation,  every 
thing  exactly  as  I  had  left  it.  So  powerful  was  the 
illusion,  that  I  gave  my  horse  the  spur,  persuaded 
that  my  father's  house  lay  before  me.  The  island 
too,  I  took  for  the  grove  that  surrounded  our  house. 
On  reaching  its  border,  I  literally  dismounted,  and 
shouted  out  for  Charon  Tommy.  There  was  a  stream 
running  through  our  plantation,  which,  for  nine 
months  out  of  the  twelve,  was  passable  only  by  means 
of  a  ferry,  and  the  old  negro  who  officiated  as  ferry- 
man was  indebted  to  me  for  the  above  classical  cog- 
nomen. I  believe  I  called  twice,  nay,  three  times  — 
but  no  Charon  Tommy  answered ;  and  I  awoke 
as  from  a  pleasant  dream,  somewhat  ashamed  of 
the  lengths  to  which  my  excited  imagination  had 
hurried  me. 

I  now  felt  so  weary  and  exhausted,  so  hungry  and 
thirsty,  and,  withal,  my  mind  was  so  anxious  and 
harassed  by  my  dangerous  position,  and  by  the  uncer- 
tainty how  I  should  get  out  of  it,  that  I  was  really 
incapable  of  going  any  further.  I  felt  quite  bewil- 
dered, and  stood  for  some  time  gazing  before  me,  and 
scarcely  even  troubling  myself  to  think.  At  length 
I  mechanically  drew  my  clasp-knife  from  my  pocket, 


>  J      > 

>  »    »  > 

»  1  >,> 


A   SCAMPER  IN  THE  PEAIEIE.  101 

and  set  to  work  to  dig  a  hole  m  the  rich  black  soil  of 
the  prairie.  Into  this  hole  I  put  the  knotted  end  of 
my  lasso,  and  then,  filling  in  the  earth  and  stamping 
it  down  with  my  foot,  as  I  had  seen  others  do  since  I 
had  been  in  Texas,  I  passed  the  noose  over  my  mus- 
tang's neck,  and  left  him  to  graze,  while  I  myself  lay 
down  outside  the  circle  which  the  lasso  would  allow 
him  to  describe.  An  odd  manner,  it  may  seem,  of 
tying  up  a  horse ;  but  the  most  convenient  and 
natural  one  in  a  country  where  one  may  often  find 
oneself  fifty  miles  from  any  house,  and  five-and- 
twenty  from  a  tree  or  bush. 

I  found  it  no  easy  matter  to  sleep,  for  on  all  sides 
I  heard  the  howling  of  wolves  and  jaguars — an  un- 
pleasant serenade  at  any  time,  but  most  of  all  so  in 
the  prairie,  unarmed  and  defenseless  as  I  was.  My 
nerves,  too,  were  all  in  commotion ;  and  I  felt  so 
feverish  that  I  do  not  know  what  I  should  have  done, 
had  I  not  fortunately  remembered  that  I  had  my 
cigar-case  and  a  roll  of  tobacco,  real  Yirginia  dul- 
cissimua^  in  my  pocket — invaluable  treasures  in  my 
present  situation,  and  which  on  this,  as  on  many 
other  occasions,  did  not  fail  to  soothe  and  calm  my 
agitated  thoughts. 

Luckily,  too,  being  a  tolerably  confirmed  smoker, 


•••  •  ••  •  yi 


102  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

I  carried  a  flint  and  steel  with  me;  for  otherwise, 
although  surrounded  by  lights,  I  should  have  been 
sadly  at  a  loss  for  fire.  A  couple  of  Havanas  did 
me  an  infinite  deal  of  good,  and  after  a  while  I  sank 
into  the  slumber  of  which  I  stood  so  much  in  need. 

The  day  was  hardly  well  broken  when  I  awoke. 
The  refreshing  sleep  I  had  enjoyed  had  given  me 
new  energy  and  courage.  I  felt  hungry  enough,  to 
be  sure,  but  light  aid  cheerful,  and  I  hastened  to  dig 
up  the  end  of  the  lasso,  and  to  saddle  my  horse.  I 
trusted  that,  although  I  had  been  condemned  to 
wander  over  the  prairie  the  whole  of  the  preceding 
day,  as  a  sort  of  punishment  for  my  rashness,  I 
should  now  have  better  luck,  and,  having  expiated 
my  fault,  be  at  length  allowed  to  find  my  way. 
With  this  hope  I  mounted  my  mustang  and  resumed 
my  ride. 

I  passed  several  beautiful  islands  of  pecan,  plum, 
and  peach  trees.  It  is  a  peculiarity  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  these  islands  are  nearly  always  of  one 
sort  of  tree.  It  is  very  rare  to  meet  with  one  where 
there  are  two  sorts.  Like  the  beasts  of  the  forest, 
that  herd  together  according  to  their  kind,  so  does 
this  wild  vegetation  preserve  itself  distinct  in  its 
different    species      One    island    will    be    entirely 


A  SOAMPEB  IN  THE   PEAIEIE.  103 

composed  of  live  oaks,  another  of  plum,  and  a  third 
of  pecan  trees ;  the  vine  only,  common  to  them  all, 
embraces  them  all  alike  with  its  slender  but  tena- 
cious branches.  I  rode  through  several  of  these 
islands.  They  were  perfectly  free  from  bushes  and 
brushwood,  and  carpeted  with  the  most  beautiful  ver- 
dure possible  to  behold.  I  gazed  at  them  in  astonish- 
ment. It  seemed  incredible  that  nature,  abandoned 
to  herself,  should  preserve  herself  so  beautifully  clean 
and  pure,  and  I  involuntarily  looked  around  me  for 
some  trace  of  the  hand  of  man.  But  none  was  there. 
I  saw  nothing  but  herds  of  deer,  that  gazed  wonder- 
ingly  at  me  witii  their  large  clear  eyes,  and  when  I 
approached  too  near,  galloped  off  in  alarm.  What 
would  I  not  have  given  for  an  ounce  of  lead,  a  charge 
of  powder,  and  a  Kentucky  rifle  I  Nevertheless,  the 
mere  sight  of  the  beasts  gladdened  me,  and  raised 
my  spirits.  They  were  a  sort  of  society.  Something 
of  the  same  feeling  seemed  imparted  to  my  horse, 
who  bounded  imder  me,  and  neighed  merrily,  as  he 
cantered  along  in  the  fresh  spring  morning. 

I  was  now  skirting  the  side  of  an  island  of  trees 
of  greater  extent  than  most  of  those  I  had  hitherto 
seen.  On  reaching  the  end  of  it,  I  suddenly  came  in 
sight  of  an  object  whose  extraordinary  appearance 


104  ADVKNTUKES   US   TEXAS. 

far  surpassed  any  of  the  natural  wonders  I  had  as 
yet  beheld,  either  in  Texas  or  the  United  States. 

At  the  distance  of  about  two  miles  rose  a  colossal 
mass,  in  shape  somewhat  like  a  monumental  mound 
or  tumulus,  and  apparently  of  the  brightest  silver. 
As  I  came  in  view  of  it,  the  sun  was  just  covered  by 
a  passing  cloud,  from  the  lower  edge  of  which  the 
bright  rays  shot  down  obliquely  upon  this  extraordi- 
nary phenomenon,  lighting  it  up  in  the  most  brilliant 
manner.  At  one  moment  it  looked  like  a  huge  silver 
cone ;  then  took  the  appearance  of  an  illuminated 
castle  with  pinnacles  and  towers,  or  the  dome  of  some 
great  cathedral ;  then  of  a  gigantic  elephant,  covered 
with  trappings,  but  always  of  solid  silver,  and  inde- 
scribably magnificent.  Had  all  the  treasures  of  the 
earth  been  oiFered  me  to  say  what  it  was,  I  should 
have  been  unable  to  answer.  Bewildered  by  my 
interminable  wanderings  in  the  prairie,  and  weak- 
ened by  fatigue  and  hunger,  a  superstitious  feeling 
for  a  moment  came  over  me,  and  I  half  asked  myself 
whether  I  had  not  reached  some  enchanted  region, 
into  which  the  evil  spirit  of  the  prairie  was  luring 
me  to  destruction  by  appearances  of  supernatural 
strangeness  and  beauty. 

Banishing  these  wild  imaginings,  I  rode  on  in  the 


A  SCAMPER   IN  THE   PRAIRIB.  105 

direction  of  this  strange  object ;  but  it  was  only  when 
I  came  within  a  very  short  distance  that  I  was  able 
to  distinguish  its  nature.  It  was  a  live  oak  of  most 
stupendous  dimensions,  the  very  patriarch  of  the 
prairie,  grown  gray  in  the  lapse  of  ages.  Its  lower 
limbs  had  shot  out  in  a  horizontal,  or  rather  a  down- 
ward-slanting direction,  and,  reaching  nearly  to  the 
ground,  completed  the  base  of  a  vast  dome,  several 
hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  full  a  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  high.  It  had  no  appearance  of  a  tree,  for 
neither  trunk  nor  branches  were  visible.  It  seemed 
a  mountain  of  whitish  green  scales,  fringed  with  long 
silvery  moss,  that  hung  like  innumerable  beards  from 
every  bough  and  twig.  Nothing  could  better  convey 
the  idea  of  immense  and  incalculable  age  than  the 
hoary  beard  and  venerable  appearance  of  this  mon- 
arch of  the  woods.  Spanish  moss  of  a  silvery  gray 
draped  the  whole  mass  of  wood  and  foliage,  from  the 
topmost  bough  down  to  the  very  ground  ;  short  near 
the  top  of  the  tree,  but  gradually  increasing  in  length 
as  it  descended,  until  it  hung  like  a  deep  fringe  from 
the  lower  branches.  I  separated  the  vegetable  curtain 
with  my  hands,  and  entered  this  august  temple  with 
feelings  of  involuntary  awe.  The  change  from  the 
bright  sunlight  to  the  comparative  darkness  beneath 


106  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

the  leafy  vault  was  so  great,  that  I  at  first  could  dis- 
tinguish scarcely  any  thing.  But  when  my  eyes  got 
accustomed  to  the  gloom,  nothing  could  be  more 
beautiful  than  the  eifect  of  the  sun's  rays,  which,  in 
forcing  their  way  through  the  silvered  leaves  and 
mosses,  took  as  many  varieties  of  color  as  if  they  had 
passed  through  a  window  of  painted  glasfe,  and  gave 
the  rich,  subdued,  and  solemn  light  observable  in  old 
cathedrals. 

The  trunk  of  the  tree  rose,  free  from  all  branches, 
full  forty  feet  from  the  ground,  rough  and  knotted,  and 
of  such  enormous  size  that  it  might  have  been  taken 
for  a  mass  of  rock  covered  with  moss  and  lichens, 
while  many  of  its  boughs  were  nearly  as  thick  as  the 
trunk  of  any  tree  I  had  ever  previously  seen. 

I  was  so  absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
vegetable  giant,  that  for  a  short  space  I  almost  forgot 
my  troubles  ;  but  as  I  rode  away  from  the  tree,  they 
returned  to  me  in  full  force,  and  my  reflections  were 
certainly  of  no  very  cheering  or  consolatory  nature. 
I  rode  on,  however,  most  perseveringly.  The  morning 
slipped  away ;  it  was  noon,  the  sun  stood  high  in  the 
cloudless  heavens.  My  hunger  had  now  increased  to 
an  insupportable  degree,  and  I  felt  as  if  something 
were  gnawing  within  me — something  like  a  crab 


A  SCAMPEB   IN   THE   PRAIRIE.  107 

tugging  and  riving  at  my  stomach  with  his  sharp 
claws.  This  feeling  left  me  after  a  time,  and  was 
replaced  by  a  sort  of  squeamishness  —  a  faint  sickly 
sensation.  But  if  hunger  was  bad,  thirst  was  worse. 
For  some  hours  I  suffered  martyrdom.  At  length, 
like  hunger  it  died  away,  and  was  succeeded  by  a 
feeling  of  sickness.  The  thirty  hours'  fatigue  and 
fasting  I  had  endured  were  beginning  to  tell  upon 
my  naturally  strong  ners'es:  I  felt  my  reasoning 
powers  growing  weaker,  and  my  presence  of  mind 
Jeaving  me.  A  feeling  of  despondency  came  over 
me — a  thousand  wild  fancies  passed  through  my 
bewildered  brain ;  while,  at  times,  my  head  grew 
dizzy,  and  I  reeled  in  my  saddle  like  a  drunken  man. 
These  weak  fits,  as  I  may  call  them,  did  not  last 
long ;  and  each  time  that  I  recovered  I  spurred  my 
mustang  onward.  But  all  was  in  vain  —  ride  as  far 
and  as  fast  as  I  would,  nothing  was  visible  but  a 
boundless  sea  of  grass. 

At  length  I  gave  up  hope,  except  in  that  God 
whose  almighty  hand  was  so  manifest  in  the  beaute- 
ous works  around  me.  I  let  the  bridle  fall  on  my 
horse's  neck,  clasped  my  hands  together,  and  prayed 
as  I  had  never  before  prayed,  so  heartily  and  earn- 
estly.   When  I  had  finished  my  prayer  I  felt  greatly 


108  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

comforted.  It  seemed  to  me,  that  here  in  the 
wilderness,  which  man  had  not  as  yet  polluted,  I 
was  nearer  to  God,  and  that  my  petition  wonld 
assuredly  be  heard.  I  gazed  cheerfully  around, 
persuaded  that  I  should  yet  escape  the  peril  in  which 
I  stood.  Just  then,  with  what  astonishment  and 
inexpressible  delight  did  I  perceive  not  ten  paces  oiF, 
the  track  of  a  horse ! 

The  effect  of  this  discovery  was  like  an  electric 
shock,  and  drew  a  cry  of  joy  from  my  lips  that  made 
my  mustang  start  and  prick  his  ears.  Tears  of  de-» 
light  and  gratitude  to  Heaven  came  into  my  eyes, 
and  I  could  scarcely  refrain  from  leaping  off  my 
horse  and  kissing  the  welcome  signs  that  gave  me 
assurance  of  succor.  With  renewed  strength  I  gal- 
loped onward  ;  and  had  I  been  a  lover  flying  to 
rescue  his  mistress  from  an  Indian  war  party,  I  could 
not  have  displayed  more  eagerness  than  I  did  in 
following  up  the  trail  of  an  unknown  traveler. 

Never  had  I  felt  so  thankful  to  Providence  as  at 
that  moment.  I  uttered  thanksgivings  as  I  rode  on, 
and  contemplated  the  wonderful  evidences  of  His 
Bkill  and  might  that  offered  themselves  to  me  on  aU 
sides.  The  aspect  of  eyery  thing  seemed  changed, 
and  I  gazed  with  renewed  admiration  at  the  scenes 


A  SCAMPEB  IN  THE  PEATRIE.  109 

through  which  I  passed,  and  which  I  had  previously 
been  too  preoccupied  by  the  danger  of  my  position  to 
notice.  The  beautiful  appearance  of  the  islands  struck 
me  particularly,  as  they  loomed  in  the  distance,  swim- 
ming in  the  bright  golden  beams  of  the  noonday  sun, 
dark  spots  of  foliage  in  the  midst  of  the  waving 
grasses  and  many-hued  flowers  of  the  prairie.  Before 
me  lay  the  eternal  flower-carpet  with  its  innumerable 
asters,  tuberoses,  and  mimosas — that  delicate  plant 
which,  when  approached,  lifts  its  head,  seems  to  look 
at  you,  and  then  droops  and  shrinks  back  in  alarm. 
This  I  saw  it  do  when  I  was  two  or  three  paces  from 
it,  and  without  my  horse's  foot  having  touched  it. 
Its  long  roots  stretch  out  horizontally  in  the  ground, 
and  the  approaching  tread  of  a  horse  or  man  is  com- 
municated through  them  to  the  plant  and  produces 
this  singular  phenomenon.  "When  the  danger  is  gone 
by,  and  the  earth  ceases  to  vibrate,  the  mimosa  may 
be  seen  again  to  raise  its  head,  quivering  and  trem- 
bling, as  though  not  yet  fully  recovered  from  its  fears. 
I  had  ridden  on  for  three  or  four  hours,  following 
the  track  I  had  so  fortunately  discovered,  when  I 
came  upon  the  trace  of  a  second  horseman,  who  ap- 
peared to  have  here  joined  the  first  traveler.  It  ran 
in  a  parallel  direction  to  the  one  I  was  following. 


110  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

Had  it  been  possible  to  increase  my  joy,  this  dis- 
covery would  have  done  so.  I  could  now  entertain 
no  doubt  that  I  had  hit  upon  the  way  out  of  this 
terrible  prairie.  It  struck  me  as  rather  singular  that 
two  travelers  should  have  met  in  this  immense  plain, 
which  so  few  persons  traversed ;  but  that  they  had 
done  so  was  certain,  for  there  were  the  tracks  of  the 
two  horses,  as  distinct  as  possible.  The  trail  was 
fresh,  too,  and  it  was  evidently  not  long  since  the 
horsemen  had  passed.  It  might  still  be  possible  to 
overtake  them ;  and  in  this  hope  I  rode  on  faster  than 
ever,  as  fast,  at  least,  as  my  mustang  could  carry  me 
through  the  thick  grass  and  flowers,  which,  in  some 
places,  were  four  or  five  feet  high. 

During  the  next  three  hours  I  passed  over  ten  or 
twelve  miles  of  ground ;  but  although  the  trail  still 
lay  plainly  and  broadly  marked  before  me,  I  saw 
nothing  of  those  who  had  left  it.  Still  I  persevered. 
I  must  overtake  them  sooner  or  later,  provided  I  did 
not  lose  the  track ;  and  that  I  was  most  careful  not  to 
do,  keeping  my  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground  as  I  rode 
along,  and  never  deviating  from  the  line  which  the 
travelers  had  followed. 

Thus  the  day  passed  away,  and  evening  ap- 
proached.   I  still  retained   hope  and   courage;  but 


A   SCAMPEK   IN  THE   PRAIRIE.  Ill 

my  physical  Btrengtli  was  giving  away.  The  gnawing 
sensation  of  hunger  increased.  I  felt  sick  and  faint ; 
my  limbs  were  heavy,  my  blood  seemed  chill  in  my 
veins,  and  all  my  senses  grew  duller  imder  the  influ- 
ence of  exhaustion,  thirst,  and  hunger.  My  eyesight 
was  misty,  my  hearing  less  acute,  the  bridle  felt  cold 
and  heavy  in  my  fingers. 

Still  1  rode  on.  Sooner  or  later  I  must  find  an 
outlet;  the  prairie  must  liave  an  end  somewhere. 
True,  that  the  whole  of  Southern  Texas  is  one  vast 
prairie  ;  but  then  there  are  rivers  flowing  through  it, 
and  if  I  could  reach  one  of  those,  I  should  not  be  far 
from  the  abodes  of  men.  By  following  the  streams 
five  or  six  miles  up  or  down,  I  should  be  sure  to  find 
a  plantation. 

While  thus  reasoning  with,  and  encouraging  my- 
self, I  perceived  the  traces  of  a  third  horse,  running 
parallel  to  the  two  which  I  had  so  long  followed. 
This  was  indeed  encouragement.  It  was  certain  that 
three  travelers,  arriving  from  difierent  points  of  the 
prairie,  and  all  going  in  the  same  direction,  must 
have  some  object,  must  be  repairing  to  some  village 
or  clearing;  and  where  or  what  this  was  had  now 
become  indifferent  to  me,  so  long  as  I  once  more 
found  myself  in  the  habitations  of  men.    I  spurred 


112  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

on  my  mustang,  who  began  to  flag  a  little  in  his  pace 
with  the  fatigue  of  our  long  ride. 

The  sun  set  behind  the  high  trees  of  an  island 
that  bounded  my  view  westward,  and  there  being 
little  or  no  twilight  in  those  southerly  latitudes,  the 
broad  day  was  almost  instantaneously  replaced  by 
the  darkness  of  night.  I  could  proceed  no  further 
without  losing  the  track  of  the  three  horsemen  ;  and, 
as  I  happened  to  be  close  to  an  island,  I  fastened 
my  mustang  to  a  branch  with  the  lasso,  and  threw 
myself  on  the  grass  under  the  trees.  ' 

This  night,  however,  I  had  no  fancy  for  tobacco. 
Neither  the  cigars  nor  the  dulcissimus  tempted  me. 
I  tried  to  sleep,  but  in  vain.  Once  or  twice  I  began 
to  doze,  but  was  roused  again  by  violent  cramps  and 
twitchings  in  all  my  limbs.  I  know  of  nothing  more 
horrible  than  a  night  passed  as  I  passed  that  one — 
faint  and  weak,  enduring  torture  from  hunger  and 
thirst,  striving  after  sleep,  and  never  finding  it.  The 
sensation  of  hunger  I  experienced  can  only  be  com- 
pared to  that  of  twenty  pairs  of  pinchers  tearing  at 
the  stomach. 

With  the  first  gray  light  of  morning  I  got  up  and 
prepared  for  departure.  It  was  a  long  business,  how- 
ever, to  get  my  horse  ready.    The  saddle,  which  at 


A   SCAMPER  IN  THE   PR  A  TRIE.  113 

other  times  I  could  throw  upon  his  back  with  two 
fingers,  now  seemed  of  lead,  and  it  was  as  much  as 
I  could  do  to  lift  it.  I  had  still  more  difficulty  in 
drawing  the  girths  tight ;  but  at  last  I  accomjilishod  . 
this,  and,  scrambling  upon  my  beast,  rode  off. 
Luckily,  my  mustang's  spirit  was  pretty  well  taken 
out  of  him  by  the  last  two  days'  work  ;  for  if  he  had 
been  fresh,  the  smallest  spring  on  one  side  would 
have  sufficed  to  throw  me  out  of  the  saddle.  As  it 
was  I  sat  upon  him  like  an  automaton,  hanging  for- 
ward over  his  neck,  sometimes  grasping  the  mane, 
and  almost  unable  to  use  either  rein  or  spur. 

I  had  ridden  for  some  hours  in  this  helpless  plight, 
when  I  came  to  a  place  where  the  three  horsemen, 
whose  track  I  was  following,  had  apparently  made  a 
halt — perhaps  had  passed  the  previous  night.  The 
grass  was  trampled  and  beaten  down  in  a  circum- 
ference of  some  fifty  or  sixty  feet,  and  there  was  a 
confdsion  in  the  horse-tracks  ds  if  they  had  ridden 
backward  and  forward.  Fearful  of  losing  the  right 
trail,  I  was  looking  carefully  about  me  to  see  in  what 
direction  they  had  recommenced  their  journey,  when 
I  noticed  something  white  among  the  long  grass.  I 
got  off  my  horse  to  pick  it  up.  It  was  a  piece  of 
paper  With   my  own  name  written  upon  it;   and  I 


114  ADVBNTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

recognized  it  as  the  back  of  a  letter  in  which  my 
tobacco  had  been  wrapped,  and  I  had  thrown  away 
at  my  halting-place  of  the  preceding  night.  I  looked 
around,  and  recognized  the  island  and  the  very  tree 
tinder  which  I  had  slept,  or  endeavored  to  sleep. 
The  horrible  truth  instantly  flashed  across  me — the 
horse  tracks  I  had  followed  were  my  own :  since  the 
preceding  morning,  I  had  been  riding  in  a  circle. 

I  stood  for  a  few  seconds  thunderstruck  by  this 
discovery,  and  then  sank  upon  the  ground  in  utter 
despair.  At  that  moment  I  should  have  been  thank- 
ful to  any  one  who  would  have  knocked  me  on  the 
head  as  I  lay.  All  I  wished  was  to  die  as  speedily 
as  possible. 

I  remained  I  know  not  how  long  in  a  desponding, 
half  insensible  state  upon  the  grass.  Several  hours 
must  have  elapsed  ;  for  when  I  got  up  the  sun  was 
low  in  the  western  heavens.  My  head  was  so  weak 
and  wandering,  that  J  could  not  well  explain  to  my- 
self how  it  was  that  1  had  been  thus  riding  after  my 
own  shadow.  Yet  the  thing  was  clear  enough. 
Without  landmarks  and  in  the  monotonous  scenery 
of  the  prairie,  I  might  have  gone  on  forever  following 
my  horse's  track,  and  going  back  when  1  thought  I 
was  going  forward,  had  it  not  been  for  the  discovery 


A  SOAMPEK  m  THE  PRAIEIE.  116 

of  the  tobacco-paper.  I  was,  as  I  subsequently 
learned,  in  the  Jacinto  prairie,  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful in  Texas,  full  sixty  miles  long  and  broad,  but  in 
which  the  most  experienced  hunters  never  risked 
themselves  without  a  compass.  It  was  little  wonder, 
then,  that  I,  a  mere  boy  of  two-and-twenty,  just 
escaped  from  college,  should  have  gone  astray  in  it. 

I  now  gave  myself  up  for  lost,  and  with  the  bridle 
twisted  round  my  hand,  and  holding  on  as  well  as  I 
could  by  the  saddle  and  mane,  I  let  my  horse  choose 
his  own  road.  It  would  perhaps  have  been  better 
had  I  done  this  sooner.  The  beast's  instinct  would 
probably  have  led  him  to  some  plantation.  When 
he  found  himself  left  to  his  own  guidance,  he  threw 
up  his  head,  snuffed  the  air  three  or  four  times,  and 
then  turning  round,  set  off  in  a  contrary  direction  to 
that  he  was  before  following,  and  at  such  a  brisk  pace 
that  it  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  keep  upon  him. 
Every  jolt  caused  me  so  much  pain,  that  I  was  more 
than  once  tempted  to  let  myself  fall  off  his  back. 

At  last  night  came,  and  thanks  to  the  lasso,  which 
kept  my  horse  in  awe,  I  managed  to  dismount  and 
secure  him.  The  whole  night  through  I  suffered 
from  racking  pains  in  head,  limbs,  and  body.  I  felt 
as  if  I  had  been  broken  on  the  wheel ;  not  an  inch 


116  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

of  my  whole  person  but  ached  and  smarted.  My 
hands  were  grown  thin  and  transparent,  my  cheeks 
fallen  in,  my  eyes  deep  sunk  in  their  sockets. 
When  I  touched  my  face  I  could  feel  the  change 
that  had  taken  place ;  and  as  I  did  so,  I  caught 
myself  once  or  twice  laughing  like  a  child.  I  was 
becoming  delirious. 

In  the  morning  I  could  scarcely  rise  from  the 
ground,  so  utterly  weak  and  exhausted  was  I  by  my 
three  days'  fasting,  anxiety  and  fatigue.  I  have 
heard  say  that  a  man  in  good  health  can  live  nine 
days  without  food.  It  may  be  so  in  a  room,  or  in  a 
prison,  but  assuredly  not  in  a  Texan  prairie.  I  am 
quite  certain  that  the  fifth  day  would  have  seen  the 
last  of  me. 

I  should  never  have  been  able  to  mount  my  mus- 
tang, but  he  had  fortunately  lain  down,  so  I  got  into 
the  saddle,  and  he  rose  up  with  me  and  started  off 
of  his  own  accord.  As  I  rode  along,  the  strangest 
visions  passed  before  me.  I  saw  the  most  beautiful 
cities  that  painter's  fancy  ever  conceived,  with  tow- 
ers, cupolas,  and  columns,  whose  summits  lost  them- 
selves in  the  clouds  ;  marble  basins  and  fountains  of 
bright,  sparkling  water,  rivers  flowing  with  liquid 
gold  and  gardens  "whose  trees  were  bowed  down  with 


A   SCAMPER   IN   THE   PRAIRIE.  117 

« 

magnificent  fruit — fruit  which  I  had  not  strength  to 
raise  my  hand  to  pluck.  My  limbs  were  heavy  as 
lead,  my  tongue,  lips  and  gums,  dry  and  parched.  I 
breathed  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  within  me 
was  a  burning  sensation,  as  if  I  had  swallowed  hot 
coals ;  while  my  extremities,  both  hands  and  feet,  did 
not  appear  to  form  a  part  of  myself,  but  to  be  instru- 
ments of  torture  affixed  to  me,  and  causing  mo  the 
most  intense  suffering. 

I  have  a  confused  recollection  of  a  sort  of  rushing 
sound,  the  nature  of  which  I  was  unable  to  determine, 
so  nearly  had  all  consciousness  left  me ;  then  of  find- 
ing myself  among  trees,  the  leaves  and  boughs  of  ^ 
which  scratched  and  beat  against  my  face  as  I  passed 
through  them ;  then  of  a  sudden  and  rapid  descent, 
with  the  broad,  bright  surface  of  a  river  below  me. 
I  clutched  at  a  branch,  but  my  fingers  lacked 
strength  to  retain  their  grasp — there  was  a  hissing, 
splashing  noise,  and  the  waters  closed  above  my 
head. 

I  soon  rose,  and  endeavored  to  strike  out  with 
my  arms  and  legs,  but  in  vain ;  I  was  too  weak 
to  swim,  and  again  I  went  down.  A  thousand 
lights  danced  before  my  eyes  ;  there  was  a  noise 
in  my  brain  as  if  a  four-and-twenty  pounder  had 


118  ADVENTURES   IK  TEXAS. 

been  fired  close  to  my  ear.  Just  then  a  hard  hand 
was  wrung  into  my  neckcloth,  and  I  felt  myself 
dragged  out  of  the  water.  The  next  instant  my 
senses  left  me. 


>  >  »  1 


TRIAL     OF     BOB.     ROCK 


CHAPTEK  II. 

LYNCH  LAW. 

"When  I  recovered  from  my  state  of  insensibility, 
and  once  mye  opened  my  eyes,  I  was  lying  on  the 
bank  of  a  small  but  deep  river.  My  horse  grazed 
quietly  a  few  yards  off,  and  beside  me  stood  a  man 
with  folded  arms,  holding  a  wicker-covered  flask  in 
his  hand.  This  was  all  I  was  able  to  observe;  for 
my  state  of  weakness  prevented  me  from  getting  up 
and  looking  around  me. 

"  Where  am  I?"  I  gasped. 

"Where  are  you  stranger?  By  the  Jacinto;  and 
that  you  are  hy  it,  and  not  in  it,  is  no  fault  of  your'n, 
I  reckon." 

There  was  something  harsh  and  repulsive  in  the 
tone  and  manner  in  which  these  words  were  spoken, 
and  in  the  grating,  scornful  laugh  which  accompanied 
them,  that  jarred  upon  my  nerves,  and  inspired  me 
with  a  feeling  of  aversion  toward  the  speaker.    I  knew 


120  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

he  was  my  deliverer ;  that  he  had  saved  my  life  when 
my  mustang,  raging  with  thirst,  had  sprung  head- 
foremost into  the  water;  that,  without  him,  I  must 
inevitably  have  been  drowned,  even  had  the  river 
been  less  deep  than  it  was ;  and  that  it  was  by  his 
care,  and  the  whisky  he  had  made  mo  swallow, 
and  of  which  I  still  had  the  flavor  on  my  tongue, 
that  had  been  recovered  from  my  deathlike  swoon. 
But  had  he  done  ten  times  as  much  for  me,  I  could 
not  have  repressed  the  feeling  of  repugnance,  the 
inexplicable  dislike,  with  which  the  mere  tones  of 
his  voice  filled  me.  I  turned  my  head  away  in 
order  not  to  see  him.  There  was  a  silence  of  some 
moments'  duration. 

"Don't  seem  as  if  my  company  was  over  and 
above  agreeable,"  said  the  man  at  last. 

"  Your  company  not  agreeable  ?  This  is  the  fourth 
day  since  I  saw  the  face  of  a  human  being.  During 
that  time  not  a  bit  nor  a  drop  has  passed  my  tongue." 

"  Hallo !  That 's  a  lie  I "  shouted  the  man,  with  an- 
other strange,  wild  laugh.  "You've  taken  a  mouthful 
out  of  my  flask ;  not  taken  it,  certainly,  but  it  went 
over  your  tongue  all  the  same.  "Where  do  you  come 
from?    The  beast  ain't  your 'n." 

"Mr.  Neal's,"  answered  I. 


LYNCH  LAW.  121 

"See  it  is  by  the  brand.  But  wbat  brings  you 
here  from  Mr.  Neal's  ?  It 's  a  good  seventy  miles  to 
his  plantation,  right  across  the  prairie.  Ain't  stole 
the  horse,  have  yon  ? " 

"Lost  my  way — four  days — eaten  nothing." 

Those  words  were  all  I  could  articulate.  I  was  too 
weak  to  talk. 

"Four  days  without  eatin'!"  said  the  man,  with  a 
laugh  like  the  sharpening  of  a  saw,  "  and  that  in  a 
Texas  prairie,  and  with  islands  on  all  sides  of  you  I 
Ha !  I  see  how  it  is.  You  're  a  gentleman  —  that 's 
plain  enough.  I  was  a  sort  of  one  myself  once. 
You  thought  our  Texas  prairies  was  like  the  prairies 
in  the  States.  Ha,  ha!  And  so  you  didn't  know 
how  to  help  yourself.  Did  you  see  no  bees  in  the  air, 
no  strawberries  on  the  airth?" 

"Bees?    Strawberries'? "  repeated  I. 

"Yes,  bees,  which  live  in  the  hollow  trees.     Out  of 

twenty  trees  there  is  sure  to  be  one  full  of  honey. 

So  you  saw  no  bees,  eh?    Perhaps  you  don't  know 

the  creturs  when  you  see  'em  ?    Ain't  altogether  so 

big  as  wild-geese  or  turkeys.     But  you  must  know 

what  strawberries  are,  and  that  they  don't  grow  upon 

the  trees." 

All  this  was  spoken  in  the  same  sneering,  savage 
6 


122  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

manner  as  before,  with  the  speaker's  head  half  turned 
over  his  shoulder,  while  his  features  were  distorted 
into  a  contemptuous  grin. 

"And  if  I  had  seen  the  bees,  how  was  I  to  get  at 
the  honey  without  an  ax?" 

"How  did  you  lose  yourself?" 

"  My  mustang — ran  away — " 

"I  see.  And  you  after  him.  You  'd  have  done  bet- 
ter to  let  him  run.    But  what  d'  ye  mean  to  do  now?" 

"I  am  weak — sick  to  death.  I  wish  to  get  to  the 
nearest  house — an  inn — anywhere  where  men  are." 

"  Where  men  are,"  repeated  the  stranger,  with  his 
scornful  smile.  "Where  men  are,"  he  muttered  again, 
taking  a  few  steps  on  one  side. 

I  was  hardly  able  to  turn  my  head,  but  there  was 
something  strange  in  the  man's  movement  that 
alarmed  me ;  and  making  a  violent  effort,  I  changed 
my  position  sufficiently  to  get  him  in  sight  again. 
He  had  drawn  a  long  knife  from  his  girdle,  which  he 
clutched  in  one  hand,  while  he  ran  the  fore-finger  of 
the  other  along  its  edge.  I  now  for  the  first  time  got 
a  full  view  of  his  face,  and  the  impression  it  made 
upon  me  was  any  thing  but  favorable.  His  counte- 
nance was  the  wildest  I  had  ever  seen ;  his  blood-shot 
eyes  rolled  like  balls  of  fire  in   their  sockets;   his 


LYNCH   LAW.  •    123 

movements  and  manner  were  indicative  of  a  violent 
inward  struggle.  He  did  not  stand  still  for  three  sec- 
onds together,  but  paced  backward  and  forward  with 
hurried,  irregular  steps,  casting  wild  glances  over  his 
shoulder,  his  fingers  playing  all  the  while  with  the 
knife,  with  the  rapid  and  objectless  movements  of  a 
maniac. 

I  felt  convinced  that  I  was  the  cause  of  the  struggle 
visibly  going  on  within  him  —  that  my  life  or  death 
was  what  he  was  deciding  upon.  But,  in  the  state  I 
then  was,  death  had  no  terrors  for  me.  The  image  of 
my  mother,  sisters,  and  father,  passed  before  my  eyes. 
I  gave  one  thought  to  my  peaceful,  happy  home  and 
then  looked  upward  and  prayed. 

The  man  had  walked  off  to  some  distance.  I 
turned  myself  a  little  more  round,  and,  as  I  did  so,  I 
caught  sight  of  the  same  magnificent  phenomenon 
which  I  had  met  with  on  the  second  day  of  my  wan- 
derings. The  colossal  live  oak  rose  in  all  its  silvery 
splendor,  at  the  distance  of  a  couple  of  miles.  While 
I  was  gazing  at  it,  and  reflecting  on  the  strange  ill- 
luck  that  had  made  me  pass  within  so  short  a 
distance  of  the  river  without  finding  it,  I  saw  my 
new  acquaintance  approach  a  neighboring  cluster  of 
trees,  among  which  he  disappeared. 


124     #  ADVENTUBES   IS  TEXAS. 

After  a  short  time  I  agaiu  perceived  him  coming 
toward  me  with  a  slow  and  staggering  *step.  As  he 
drew  near,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  his 
whole  appearance.  He  was  very  tall  and  lean,  but 
large-boned,  and  apparently  of  great  strength.  His 
face,  which  had  not  been  shaved  for  several  weeks, 
was  so  tanned  by  sun  and  weather,  that  he  might 
have  been  taken  for  an  Indian,  had  not  the  beard 
proved  his  claim  to  white  blood.  But  his  eyes  were 
what  most  struck  me.  There  was  something  so 
frightfully  wild  in  their  expression,  a  look  of  terror 
and  desperation,  like  that  of  a  man  whom  all  the 
furies  of  hell  were  hunting  and  persecuting.  His 
hair  hung  in  long  ragged  locks  over  his  forehead, 
cheeks,  and  neck,  and  round  his  head  was  bound  a^ 
handkerchief  on  which  were  several  stains  of  a  brown- 
ish-black color.  Spots  of  the  same  kind  were  visible 
upon  his  leathern  jacket,  breeches,  and  moccasins ; 
they  were  evidently  blood  stains.  His  hunting-knife, 
which  was  nearly  two  feet  long,  with  a  rude  wooden 
handle,  was  now  replaced  in  his  girdle,  but  in  its 
stead  he  grasped  a  Kentucky  rifle. 

Although  I  did  my  utmost  to  assume  an  indifferent 
countenance,  my  features  doubtless  expressed  some- 
thing of  the  repugnance  and  horror  with  which  the 


LYNCH  LAW.         -  125 

man  inspired  me.  He  looked  loweringly  at  me  for 
a  moment  from  under  his  shaggy  eyebrows. 

"You  don't  seem  to  like  the  company  you've  got 
into,"  said  he.  "Do  I  look  so  very  desperate  then? 
Is  it  written  so  plainly  on  my  face?" 

"What  should  there  be  written  upon  your  face?" 

"What?  What?  Them  questions  are  for  fools 
and  children." 

"  I  will  ask  you  none ;  but  as  a  Christian,  as  a 
countryman,  I  beseech  you " 

"Christian?"  interrupted  he,  with  a  hollow  laugh. 
"  Countryman ! "  He  struck  the  but  of  his  rifle  hard 
upon  the  ground.  "Tliat  is  my  countryman  —  my 
only  friend ! "  he  continued,  as  he  examined  the  flint 
and  lock  of  his  weapon.  "That  releases  from  all 
troubles  :  that's  a  true  friend.  Pooh!  perhaps  it'll 
release  you  too — put  you  to  rest." 

These  last  words  were  uttered  aside,  and  musingly. 

"  Put  him  to  rest  as  well  as .    Pooh !    One  more 

or  less— Perhaps  it  would  drive  away  that  cursed 
spectre."    All  this  seemed  to  be  spoken  to  his  rifle. 

"  Will  you  swear  not  to  betray  nje  ? "  cried  he  to 
me.    "Else,  one  touch " 

As  he  spoke,  he  brought  the  gun  to  his  shoulder, 
the  muzzle  pointed  full  at  my  breast. 


126  ADVENTUBES   IN  TEXAS. 

I  felt  no  fear.  I  am  sure  my  pulse  did  not  give 
a  throb  the  more  for  this  menace.  So  deadly  weak 
and  helpless  as  I  lay,  it  was  unnecessary  to  shoot  me. 

The  slightest  blow  from  the  but  of  the  rifle,  would 
have  driven  the  last  faint  spark  of  life  out  of  my 
exhausted  body.  I  looked  calmly,  indifferently  even, 
into  the  muzzle  of  the  piece. 

"If  you  can  answer  it  to  your  God,  to  your  and 
my  Judge  and  Creator,  do  your  will." 

My  words,  which  from  faintness  I  could  scarcely 
render  audible,  had,  nevertheless,  a  sudden  and  start- 
ling effect  upon  the  man.  He  trembled  from  head 
to  foot,  let  the  but  of  his  gun  fall  heavily  to  the 
ground,  and  gazed  at  me  with  open  mouth  and 
staring  eyes. 

"This  one,  too.  comes  with  his  God ! "  muttered  he. 
"God!  and  your  and  my  Creator  —  and — Judge." 

He  seemed  hardly  able  to  articulate  these  words, 
which  were  uttered  by  gasps  and  efforts,  as  though 
something  had  choked  him. 

"  His  and  my — Judge  " — groaned  he  again.  "  Can 
there  be  a  God,  a  Creator  and  Judge?" 

As  he  stood  thus  muttering  to  himself,  his  eyes 
suddenly  became  fixed,  and  his  features  horribly 
distorted. 


LTNCH  LAW.  127 

"  Do  it  not ! "  cried  he,  in  ft  shrill  tone  of  horror, 
that  rung  through  my  head.  "It  will  bring  no 
blessin'  with  it.  I  am  a  dead  man!  God  be  mer- 
ciful to  me  I     My  poor  wife!  my  poor  children!" 

The  rifle  fell  from  his  hands,  and  he  smote  his 
breast  and  forehead  in  a  paroxysm  of  the  wildest 
fury  and  despair.  It  was  frightful  to  behold  the 
conscience-stricken  wretch,  stamping  madly  about, 
and  casting  glances  of  terror  behind  him,  as  though 
demons  had  been*hunting  him  down.  The  foam  flew 
from  his  mouth,  and  I  expected  each  moment  to  see 
him  fall  to  the  ground  in  a  fit  of  epilepsy.  Gradually, 
however,  he  grew  more  tranquil. 

"D'ye  see  nothin'  in  my  face?"  said  he  in  a 
hoarse  whisper,  suddenly  pausing  close  to  where 
I  lay. 

"What  should  I  see?" 

He  came  yet  nearer. 

"Look  well  at  me — through  me,  if  you  can. 
D'ye  see  nothin'  now?" 

"I  see  nothing,"  replied  I. 

"Ah!  I  understand;  you  can  see  nothin'.  Ain't 
in  a  spyin'  humor,  I  calkilate.  !N"o,  no,  that  you 
ain't.  After  four  days  and  nights  fastin',  one  loses 
the  fancy  for    many  things.    I've  tried   it  for  two 


128  ADVBNTUEES  IN  TEXAB. 

days  myself.  So,  yon  are  weak  and  faint,  eh?  But 
I  need  n't  ask  that,  I  reckon.  You  look  bad  enough. 
Take  another  drop  of  whisky ;  it  '11  strengthen  you. 
But  wait  till  I  mix  it." 

As  he  spoke,  he  stepped  down  to  the  edge  of  the 
river,  and  scooping  up  the  water  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  filled  up  his  flask  with  it.  Then  returning  to 
me,  he  poured  a  little  into  my  mouth. 

Even  the  bood-thirsty  Indian  arppears  less  of  a 
savage  when  engaged  in  a  compassionate  act,  and 
the  wild  desperado  I  had  fallen  in  with  seemed 
softened  and  humanized  by  the  service  he  was  ren- 
dering me.  His  voice  sounded  less  harsh;  his 
manner  was  calmer  and  milder. 

"  You  wish  to  go  to  an  inn  ? " 

"  For  Heaven's  sake,  yes.  These  four  days  I  haye 
tasted  nothing  but  a  bit  of  tobacco." 

"  Can  you  spare  a  bit  of  that  ? " 

"All  I  have." 

I  handed  him  my  cigar-case,  and  the  roll  of  dulr 
ciesimus.  He  snatched  the  latter  from  me,  and  bit 
into  it  with  the  furious  eagerness  of  a  wolf. 

"Ah!  the  right  sort  this !"  muttered  he  to  himself. 
"Ah,  young  man,  or  old  man — you're  an  old  man 
ain't  you?    How  old  are  you?" 


LYNCH  LAW.  129 

"  Two-and-twentj." 

He  shook  his  head  doubtinglj. 
•  "Can  hardly  believe  that.    But  four  days  in  the 
prairie,  and  nothin'  to  eat.    Well,  it  may  be  so.    But, 
stranger,  if  I  had  had  this  bit  of  tobacco  only  ten 

days    ago A    bit   of  tobacco    is   worth    a   deal 

sometimes.    It  might  have  saved  a  man's  life ! " 

Again  he  groaned,  and  his  accents  were  wild  and 
unnatural. 

"I  say,  stranger!"  cried  he  in  a  threatening  tone. 
"I  say?  D'ye  see  yonder  live  oak?  D'ye  see  it? 
It's  the  Patriarch,  and  a  finer  and  a  mightier 'one 
you  won't  find  in  the  prairies,  I  reckon.  D'ye 
see  it?" 

"I  do  see  it." 

"Ahl  you  see  it,"  he  cried  fiercely.  "And  what 
is  it  to  you?  What  have  you  to  do  with  the  Patri- 
arch, or  what  lies  under  it?  I  reckon  you  had  best 
not  be  too  curious  that  way.     If  you  dare  take  a  step 

under  that  tree "    He  swore  an  oath  too  horrible 

to  be  repeated. 

"There's  a  specter . there,"  cried  he;  "a  specter 
that  would  fright  you  to  death.     You'd  better  keep 


"I- will  keep  away,"  replied  I.    "I  never  thought 
6* 


130  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

of  going  near  it.  All  I  want  is  to  get  to  the  nearest 
plantation  or  inn." 

"Ah!  true,  man — the  next  inn.  I'll  show  you 
the  way.    I  will." 

"  You  will  save  my  life  by  so  doing,"  said  I,  "  and 
I  shall  be  ever  grateful  to  you  as  my  deliverer." 

"  Deliverer ! "  repeated  he  with  a  wild  laugh. 
"Pooh!  If  you  knew  what  sort  of  a  deliverer — 
Pooh!  "What's  the  use  of  savin'  a  life,  when  —  yet 
I  will  —  I  will  save  yours  ;  perhaps  the  cursed  spec- 
ter will  leave  me  then.  Will  you  not?  Will  you 
not?"  cried  he,  suddenly  changing  his  scornful, 
mocking  tone  to  one  of  entreaty  and  supplication, 
and  turning  his  face  in  the  direction  of  the  live  oak. 
Again  his  wildness  of  manner  returned,  and  his  eyes 
were  fixed  as  he  gazed  for  some  moments  at  the 
gigantic  tree.  Then  darting  away,  he  disappeared 
among  the  trees,  whence  he  had  fetched  his  rifle, 
and  presently  emerged  again,  leading  a  saddled  horse 
with  him.  He  called  to  me  to  mount  mine,  but 
seeing  that  I  was  unable  even  to  rise  from  the  ground 
he  stepped  up  to  me,  and  with  the  greatest  ease 
lifted  me  into  the  saddle  with  one  hand,  so  light  had 
I  become  during  my  long  fast.  Then  taking  the  end 
of  my  lasso,  he  got  upon  his  own  horse  and  set  off, 


LYNCH   LAW.  131 

leading  my  mustang  after  him.  "We  rode  on  for 
some  time  without  exchanging  a  word.  My  guide 
kept  up  a  Bort  of  muttered  soliloquy ;  but  as  I  was 
full  ten  paces  in  his  rear,  I  could  distinguish  nothing 
of  what  he  said.  At  times  he  would  raise  his  rifle  to 
his  shoulder,  then  lower  it  again,  and  speak  to  it, 
sometimes  caressingly,  sometimes  in  anger.  More 
than  once  he  turned  his  head,  and  cast  keen,  search- 
ing glances  at  me,  as  though  to  see  whether  I  were 
watching  him  or  not. 

"We  had  ridden  more  than  an  hour,  and  the 
strength  the  whisky  had  given  me  was  fast  failing, 
BO  that  I  expected  each  moment  to  fall  from  my 
horse,  when  suddenly  I  caught  sight  of  a  kind  of 
rude  hedge,  and,  almost  immediately  afterward,  of 
the  wall  of  a  small  block-house.  A  faint  cry  of  joy 
escaped  me,  and  I  endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to  give 
my  horse  the  spur.  My  guide  turned  round,  fixed 
his  wild  eyes  upon  me,  and  spoke  in  a  threatening 
tone. 

"  You  are  impatient,  man !  impatient,  I  see.  You 
think  now,  perhaps " 

"  I  am  dying,"  was  all  I  could  utter.  In  fact  my 
senses  were  leaving  me  from  exhaustion,  and  I  really 
thought  my  last  hour  was  come. 


132  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

"Pooh!  dy in' I  One  don't  die  so  easy.  And  yet — 
d n! — it  might  be  true." 

He  sprang  off  his  horse,  and  was  just  in  time  to 
catch  me  in  his  arms  as  I  fell  from  the  saddle.  A 
few  drops  of  whisky,  however,  restored  me  to  con- 
sciousness. My  guide  replaced  me  upon  my  mustang, 
and  after  passing  through  a  potato  ground,  a  field 
of  Indian  corn,  and  a  small  grove  of  peach-trees,  we 
found  ourselves  at  the  door  of  the  block-house. 

I  was  so  utterly  helpless,  that  my  strange  compan- 
ion was  obliged  to  lift  me  off  my  horse,  and  carry 
me  into  the  dwelling.  He  set  me  down  upon  a 
bench,  passive  and  powerless  as  an  infant.  Strange 
to  say,  I  was  never  better  able  to  observe  all  that 
passed  around  me,  than  during  the  few  hours  of 
physical  debility  that  succeeded  my  immersion  in  the 
Jacinto.  A  blow  with  a  reed  would  have  knocked 
me  off  my  seat,  but  my  mental  faculties,  instead  of 
participating  in  this  weakness,  seemed  sharpened  to 
an  unusual  degree  of  acuteness. 

The  block-house  in  which  we  jiow  were  was  of  the 
poorest  possible  description;  a  mere  log  hut,  con- 
sisting of  one  room,  that  served  as  a  kitchen,  sitting 
room,  and  bed-chamber.  The  door  of  rough  planks 
swung  heavily  upon  two  hooks,  which  fitted  into  iron 


LYNCH  LAW.  133 

rings,  and  formed  a  clumsy  substitute  for  hinges  ;  a 
wooden  latch  and  heavy  bar  served  to  secure  it; 
windows,  properly  speaking,  there  were  none,  but  in 
their  stead  a  few  holes  covered  with  dirty  oiled 
paper ;  the  floor  was  of  clay,  stamped  hard  and  dry 
in  the  middle,  but  out  of  which  at  the  sides  of  the 
room,  a  crop  of  rank  grass  was  growing  a  foot  or 
more  high.  In  one  comer  stood  a  clumsy  bedstead, 
in  another  stood  a  sort  of  bar  or  counter,  on  which 
were  half  a  dozen  drinking  glasses  of  various  sizes 
and  patterns.  The  table  consisted  of  four  thick 
posts,  firmly  planted  in  the  ground,  and  on  which 
were  nailed  three  boards  that  had  apparently  be- 
longed to  some  chest  or  case,  for  they  were  partly 
painted,  and  there  was  a  date,  and  the  three  first 
letters  of  a  word  upon  one  of  them.  A  shelf  fixed 
against  the  side  of  the  hut  supported  an  earthem  pot 
or  two,  and  three  or  four  bottles,  uncorked,  and  ap- 
parently empty;  and  from  some  wooden  pegs,  wedged 
in  between  the  logs,  hung  suspended  a  few  articles 
of  wearing  apparel  of  no  very  cleanly  aspect. 

Pacing  up  and  down  the  hut  with  a  kind  of 
stealthy,  cat-like  pace,  was  an  individual,  whose  un- 
prepossessing exterior  was  in  good  keeping  with  the 
wretched  appearance  of  this  Texan  shebeen  house. 


134:  ADVXNTUKES  IN  TEXAS. 

He  was  an  undersized,  stooping  figure,  red-haired 
and  large-mouthed,  with  small  reddish  pig's  eyes, 
which  he  seemed  totally  unable  to  raise  from  the 
ground,  and  whose  lowering,  hang-dog  expression 
corresponded  fully  with  the  treacherous,  restless, 
panther-like  stealthiness  of  his  step  and  movements. 
Without  greeting  us  either  by  word  or  look,  this  per- 
sonage dived  into  a  dark  corner  of  the  tenement, 
brought  out  a  full  bottle,  and,  placing  it  and  glasses 
upon  the  table,  resumed  the  monotonous  exercise  in 
which  he  had  been  indulging  on  our  entrance. 

My  guide  and  deliverer  said  nothing  while  the 
tavern-keeper  was  getting  out  the  bottle,  although  he 
watched  all  his  movements  with  a  keen  and  suspicious 
eye.  He  now  filled  a  large  glass  of  spirits,  and 
tossed  it  ofi"  at  a  single  draught.  When  he  had  done 
this,  he  spoke  for  the  first  time. 

"Johnny!" 

Johnny  made  no  answer. 

"This  gentleman  has  eaten  nothing  for  four  days." 

"Indeed,"  replied  Johnny,  without  looking  up,  or 
intermitting  his  sneaking,  restless  walk  from  one 
comer  of  the  room  to  the  other. 

"I  said  four  days,  d'ye  hear?  Four  days.  Bring 
him  tea  immediately,  strong  tea,  then  make  some 


LYNCH   LAW.  135 

good  beef-soup.  I  know  you  have  bought  some  tea 
and  rum  and  sugar.  The  tea  must  be  ready  directly, 
the  soup  in  an  hour  at  farthest,  d'ye  understand? 
^na  then  I  want  some  whisky  for  myself,  and  a 
beefsteak  and  potatoes.  I^ow  tell  all  that  to  your 
Sambo." 

Johnny  did  not  seem  to  hear,  but  continued  his 
walk,  creeping  along  with  a  noiseless  step,  and  each 
time  that  he  turned,  giving  a  sort  of  spring  like  a 
cat  or  panther. 

"I've  money,  Johnny,"  said  my  guide.  "Money, 
man,  d'ye  hear?"  And  so  saying,  he  produced  a 
toleraly  full  purse. 

For  the  first  time  Jolmny  raised  his  head,  gave  an 
indefinable  glance  at  the  purse,  and  then,  springing 
forward,  fixed  his  small,  cunning  eyes  upon  those  of 
my  guide,  while  a  smile  of  strange  meaning  spread 
over  his  repulsive  features. 

The  two  men  stood  for  the  space  of  a  minute, 
staring  at  each  other,  without  uttering  a  word.  An 
infernal  grin  distended  Johnny's  coarse  mouth  from 
ear  to  ear.     My  guide  gasped  for  breath. 

"  I  've  money,"  cried  he  at  last,  striking  the  but  of 
his  rifle  violently  on  the  ground.  D'ye  understand, 
Johnny  ?    Money ;  and  a  rifle  too,  if  needs  be." 


136  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

He  stepped  to  the  table  and  filled  another  glass  of 
raw  spirits  which  disappeared  like  the  preceding  one. 
While  he  drank,  Johnny  stole  out  of  the  room  so 
softly  that  my  companion  was  only  made  aware  of 
his  departure  by  the  noise  of  the  wooden  latch.  He 
then  came  up  to  me,  took  me  in  his  arms  without 
saying  a  word,  and  carrying  me  to  the  bed,  laid  me 
gently  down  upon  it. 

"You  make  yourself  at  home,"  snarled  Johnny, 
who  just  then  came  in  again. 

"Always  do  that,  I  reckon,  when  I'm  in  a  tavern," 
answered  my  guide,  quietly  pouring  out  and  swal- 
lowing another  glassful.  "  The  gentleman  shall  have 
your  bed  to-day.  You  and  your  Sambo  may  sleep  in 
the  pig-sty.    You  have  none  though,  I  believe?" 

"  Bob ! "  screamed  Johnny  furiously. 

"That's  my  name— Bob  Eock." 

"For  the  present,"  hissed  Johnny  with  a  sneer. 

"Just  as  yours  is  Johnny  Down,"  replied  Bob  in 
the  same  tone.  "  Pooh !  Johnny,  guess  we  know  one 
another?" 

"Rather  calkilate  we  do,"  replied  Johnny  through 
his  teeth. 

"And  have  done  many  a  day,"  laughed  Bob. 

"You're  the  famous  Bob  from  Sodoma  in  Georgia." 


LYNCH  LAW.  137 

"Sodoma  in  Alabama.  Johnny.  Sodoma  lies  in 
Alabama,"  said  Bob,  filling  another  glass.  "Don't 
you  know  that  yet,  you  who  were  above  a  year  in 
Columbus,  doin'  all  sorts  of  dirty  work?" 

"  Better  hold  your  tongue,  Bob,"  said  Johnny,  with 
a  dangerous  look  at  me. 

"Pooh!  Don't  mind  him;  he  won't  talk,  I'll  an- 
swer for  it.  He 's  lost  the  taste  for  chatterin'  in  the 
Jacinto  prairie.  But  Sodoma,"  continued  Bob,  "is 
in  Alabama,  man!  Columbus  in  Georgia!  They 
are  parted  by  the  Chatahoochie.  Ah!  that  was  a 
jolly  life  on  the  Chatahoochie.  But  nothin'  lasts  in 
this  world,  as  my  old  schoolmaster  used  to  say. 
Pooh!  They've  driiv  the  Injuns  a  step  further  over 
the  Mississippi  now.  But  it  was  a  glorious  life  — 
warn'tit?" 

Again  he  filled  his  glass  and  drank. 

The  information  I  gathered  from  this  conversation 
as  to  the  previous  life  and  habits  of  these  two  men, 
had  nothing  in  it  very  satisfactory  or  encouraging 
for  me.  In  the  whole  of  the  south-western  States 
there  was  no  place  that  could  boast  of  being  the 
resort  of  so  many  outlaws  and  bad  characters  as  the 
town  of  Sodoma.  It  is  situated,  or  was  situated,  at 
least,  a  few  years  previously  to  the  time  I  speak  of, 


138  ADVENTUEES   HJ  TEXAS. 

in  Alabama,  on  Indian  ground,  and  was  the  harbor 
of  refuge  for  all  the  murderers  and  outcasts  from  the 
western  and  south-western  parts  of  the  Union.  There, 
under  Indian  government,  they  found  shelter  and 
security ;  and  frightful  were  the  crimes  and  cruelties 
perpetrated  at  that  place.  Scarcely  a  day  passed 
without  an  assassination,  not  secretly  committed^  but 
in  broad  sunlight.  Bands  of  these  wretches,  armed 
with  knives  and  rifles,  used  to  cross  the  Chatahoochie, 
and  make  inroads  into  Columbus ;  break  into  houses, 
rob,  murder,  ill-treat  women,  and  then  return  in 
triumph  to  their  dens,  laden  with  booty,  and  laughing 
at  the  laws.  It  was  useless  to  think  of  pursuing 
them,  or  of  obtaining  justice,  for  they  were  on  Indian 
territory ;  and  many  of  the  chiefs  were  in  league 
with  them.  At  length.  General  Jackson  and  the 
government  took  it  up.  The  Indians  were  driven 
over  the  Mississippi,  the  outlaws  and  murderers  fled, 
Sodoma  itself  disappeared  ;  and,  released  from  its 
troublesome  neighbors,  Columbus  is  now  as  flourish- 
ing a  State  as  any  in  the  west 

The  recollections  of  their  former  life  and  exploits 
seemed  highly  interesting  to  the  two  comrades ;  and 
their  communications  became  more  and  more  con- 
fidential.   Johnny  filled  himself   a  glass,   and  the 


LYNCH  LAW.  139 

conversation  soon  increased  in  animation.  I  could 
understand  a  little  of  what  they  said,  for  they  spoke 
a  sort  of  thieves'  jargon.  After  a  time,  their  voices 
sounded  as  a  confused  hum  in  my  ^ars,  the  objects 
in   the  room  got  gradually  less  distinct,  and  I  fell 


I  was  roused,  not  very  gently,  by  a  mulatto  woman, 
who  poured  a  spoonful  of  tea  into  my  mouth  before 
I  had  well  opened  my  eyes.  She  at  first  did  not 
attend  to  me  with  much  apparent  good-will ;  but  by 
the  time  she  had  given  me  half-a-dozen  spoonfuls, 
her  womanly  sympathies  were  awakened,  and  her 
manner  became  kinder.  The  tea  did  me  an  infinite 
deal  of  good,  and  infused  new  life  into  my  veins. 
I  finished  the  cup,  and  the  mulatto  laid  me  down 
again  on  my  pillow,  with  far  more  gentleness  than 
she  had  lifted  me  up. 

"  Gor !  Gor ! "  cried  she,  "  what  poor  young  man  ! 
Berry  weak.  Him  soon  better.  One  hour,  massa, 
good  soup." 

"  Soup !  What  do  you  want  with  soup ? "  grumbled 
Johnny. 

"Him  take  soup.     I  cook  it,"  screamed  the  woman. 

"Worse  for  you  if  she  don't,  Johnny,"  said  Bob; 
**  worse  for  you,  I  say." 


140  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

Johnny  muttered  something  in  reply,  but  I  did 
not  distinguish  what  it  was,  for  my  eyes  closed,  and 
I  again  fell  asleep. 

It  seemed  as  if  I  had  not  been  five  minutes 
slumbering  when  the  mulatto  returned  with  the  soup. 
The  tea  had  revived  me,  but  this  gave  me  strength  ; 
and  when  I  had  taken  it  I  was  able  to  sit  up  in  the  bed. 

While  the  woman  fed  me,  Bob  ate  his  beef-steak. 
It  was  a  piece  of  meat  that  might  have  suflSced  for 
six  persons,  but  the  man  was  as  hungry  as  if  he  had 
eaten  nothing  for  three  days.  He  cut  off  wedges 
half  as  big  as  his  fist,  swallowed  them  with  ravenous 
eagerness,  and,  instead  of  bread,  bit  into  some  un- 
peeled  potatoes.  All  this  was  washed  down  with 
glass  after  glass  of  raw  spirits,  which  had  the  effect 
of  wakening  him  up,  and  infusing  a  certain  cheerful 
ness  into  his  strange  humor.  He  still  spoke  more  to 
himself  than  to  Johnny,  but  his  recollections  seemed 
agreeable ;  he  nodded  self-approvingly,  and  sometimes 
laughed  aloud.  At  last  he  began  to  abuse  Johnny 
for  being,  as  he  said,  such  a  sneaking,  cowardly 
fellow — such  a  treacherous,  false-hearted  gallows-bird. 

"It's  true,"  said  he,  "I  am  gallows-bird  enough 
myself,  but  then  I'm  open,  and  no  man  can  say  I'm 
afeard ;  but  Johnny,  Johnny,  who" 


LYNCH   LAW.  141 

I  do  not  know  what  he  was  about  to  say,  for 
Johnny  sprang  toward  him,  and  placed  both  hands 
over  his  mouth,  receiving  in  return  a  blow  that 
knocked  him  as  far  as  the  door,  through  which  he 
retreated,  cursing  and  grumbling. 

I  soon  fell  asleep  again,  and  while  in  that  state  I 
had  a  confused  consciousness  of  various  noises  in  the 
room,  loud  words,  blows,  and  shouting.  Wearied  as 
I  was,  however,  I  believe  no  noise  would  have 
fully  roused  me,  although  hunger  at  last  did. 

When  I  opened  my  eyes  I  saw  the  mulatto  woman 
Bitting  by  my  bed,  and  keeping  off  the  musquitoes. 
She  brought  me  the  remainder  of  the  soup,  and 
promised,  if  I  would  sleep  a  couple  of  hours  more,  to 
bring  me  as  good  a  beef-steak,  as  ever  came  off  a 
gridiron.  Before  the  two  hours  had  elapsed  I  awoke, 
hungrier  than  ever.  After  I  had  eaten  all  the  beef- 
steak the  woman  would  allow  me,  which  was  a  very 
moderate  quantity,  she  brought  me  a  beer-glass  full 
of  the  most  delicious  punch  I  ever  tasted.  I  asked 
her  where  she  had  got  the  mm  and  lemons,  and  she 
told  me  that  it  was  she  who  had  bought  them,  as  well 
as  a  stock  of  coffee  and  tea;  that  Johnny  was  her 
partner,  but  that  he  had  done  nothing  but  build  the 
house,  and  badly  built  it  was.    She  then  began  to 


142  ADVENTimES  IN  TEXAS. 

abuse  Johnny,  and  said  he  was  a  gambler,  and  worse 
still;  that  he  had  had  plenty  of  money  once,  but 
had  lost  it  all ;  that  she  had  first  known  him  in 
Lower  Natchez,  but  he  had  been  obliged  to  run 
away  from  there  in  the  night  to  save  his  neck.  Bob 
was  no  better,  she  said;  on  the  contrary- — and  here 
she  made  the  gesture  of  cutting  a  man's  throat — he 
was  a  very  bad  fellow,  she  added.  He  had  got  drunk 
after  his  dinner,  knocked  Johnny  down,  and  broken 
every  thing.  He  was  now  lying  asleep  outside  the 
door ;  and  Johnny  had  hidden  himself  somewhere. 

How  long  she  continued  speaking  I  know  not, 
for  I  again  fell  into  a  deep  sleep,  which  this  time 
lasted  six  or  seven  hours. 

I  was  awakened  by  a  strong  grasj)  laid  upon  my 
arm,  which  made  me  cry  out,  more,  however,  from 
alarm  than  pain.  Bob  stood  by  my  bedside;  the 
traces  of  the  preceding  night's  debauch  plainly 
written  on  his  haggard  countenance.  His  blood-shot 
eyes  were  inflamed  and  swollen,  and  rolled  with 
even  more  than  their  usual  wildness ;  his  mouth  was 
open,  and  the  jaws  were  stiff  and  fixed ;  he  looked 
like  one  fresh  from  the  perpetration  of  some  frightful 
deed.  I  could  have  fancied  the  first  murderer  to 
have  worn  such  an  aspect  when  gazing  on  the  body 


LYNCH   LAW.  143 

of  his  slaughtered  brother.  I  shrunk  back,  horror- 
struck  at  his  appearance. 

"In  God's  name,  man,  what  do  you  want? " 

He  made  no  answer. 

"You  are  in  a  fever.    You've  the  ague! " 

"Ay,  a  fever,"  groaned  he,  shivering  as  he  spoke ; 
"a  fever,  but  not  the  one  you  mean ;  a  fever,  young 
man,  such  as  God  keep  you  from  ever  having." 

His  whole  frame  shuddered  as  he  uttered  these 
words.    There  was  a  short  pause. 

"Curious  that,"  continued  he;  "I've  served  more 
than  one  in  the  same  way,  but  never  thought  of  it 
afterward  —  was  forgotten  in  less  than  no  time.  Got 
to  pay  the  whole  score  at  once,  I  suppose.  Can't 
rest  a  minute.  In  the  open  prairie  it's  the  worst; 
there  stands  the  old  man,  so  plain,  with  his  silver 
beard  and  the  specter  just  behind  him." 

His  eyes  rolled,  he  clenched  his  fists,  and  striking 
his  forehead  furiously,  rushed  out  of  the  hut. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  returned,  apparently  more 
composed,  and  walked  straight  up  to  my  bed. 

"Stranger,  you  must  do  me  a  service,"  said  he 
abruptly. 

"Ten  rather  than  one,"  replied  I;  "any  thing  that 
is  in  my  power.    Do  I  not  owe  you  my  life?" 


144  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

"You're  a  gentleman,  I  see,  and  a  Christian.  You 
must  come  with  me  to  the  squire — the  Alcalde." 

«To  the  Alcalde,  man?   What  must  1  go  there  for?" 

"You'll  see  and  hear  when  you  get  there;  I've 
something  to  tell  him —  something  for  his  own  ear." 

He  drew  a  deep  breath,  and  remained  silent  for  a 
short  time,  gazing  anxiously  on  all  sides  of  him. 

"Something,"  whispered  he,  "that  nobody  else 
must  hear." 

"But  there's  Johnny  there.    Why  not  take  him?" 

"Johnny!"  cried  he,  with  a  scornful  laugh — 
"Johnny  !  who's  ten  times  worse  than  I  am,  bad  as  I 
be ;  and  bad  I  am  to  be  sure,  but  yet  open  and 
above  board,  always,  till  this  time  ;  but  Johnny! 
he'd  sell  his  own  mother.  He's  a  cowardly,  sneakin', 
treacherous  hound,  is  Johnny." 

It  was  unnecessary  to  tell  me  this,  for  Johnny's 
character  was  written  plainly  enough  upon  his 
countenance. 

"But  why  do  you  want  me  to  go  to  the  Alcalde  !" 

"Why  does  one  want  people  before  the  judge? 

He's  a  judge,  man;    a  Mexican  one  certainly,  but 

chosen  by  us  Americans ;   and  an  American  himself, 

as  you  and  I  are." 

"And  how  soon  must  I  go?" 


LYNCH   LAW.  145 

"  Directly.  I  can't  bear  it  any  longer.  It  leaves 
me  no  peace.  Not  an  hour's  rest  have  I  had  for  the 
last  eight  days.  When  I  go  out  into  the  prairie,  the 
specter  stands  before  me  and  beckons  me  on ;  and  if 
I  try  to  go  another  way,  he  comes  behind  me  and 
drives  me  before  him  under  the  Patriarch.  I  seft^ 
him  just  as  plainly  as  when  he  was  alive,  only  paler 
and  sadder.  It  seems  as  if  I  could  touch  him  with 
my  hand.  Even  the  bottle  is  no  use  now;  neither 
rum,  nor  whisky,  nor  brandy,  rid  me  of  him;  it 
don't,  by  the  'tamal.  Carious  that  I  I  got  drunk 
yesterday — thought  to  get  rid  of  him;  but  he  came 
in  the  night  and  drov©  me  out.  I  was  obliged  to  go. 
Would  n't  let  me  sleep  ;  was  forced  to  go  under  the 
Patriarch." 

"Under  the  Patriarch?  the  live  oak?"  cried  I,  in 
astonishment.     "Were  you  there  in  the  night?" 

"  Ay,  that  was  I,"  replied  he  in  the  same  horribly 
confidential  tone ;  "  and  the  spirit  threatened  me,  and 
said,  says  he,  'I  will  leave  you  no  peace,  Bob,  till  you 
go  to  the  Alcalde  and  tell  him.' " 

"Then  I  will  go  with  you  to  the  Alcalde,  and  that 
immediately,"  said  I,  raising  myself  up  in  bed.  I  could 
not  help  pitying  the  poor  fellow  from  my  very  soul. 

"Where  are  you  going?"  croaked  Johnny,  who  at 

7 


146  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

this  moment  glided  into  the  room.  "!Not  a  step  shall 
you  stir  till  you've  paid." 

"Johnny,"  said  Bob,  seizing  his  less  powerful  com- 
panion by  the  shoulders,  lifting  him  up  like  a  child, 
and  then  setting  him  down  again  with  such  force, 
44liat  his  knees  cracked  and  bent  under  him;  — 
"Johnny,  this  gentleman  is  my  guest,  d'ye  under- 
stand? And  here  is  the  reckonin',  and  mind  yourself, 
Johnny — mind  yourself,  that's  all." 

Johnny  crept  into  a  corner  like  a  flogged  hound ; 
the  mulatto  woman,  however,  did  not  seem  disposed 
to  be  so  easily  intimidated.  Sticking  her  arms  in 
her  sides,  she  waddled  boldly  %rward. 

"You  not  take  him  'way,  Massa  Bob?"  screamed 
she.  "Him  stop  here.  Him  berry  weak — not  able 
for  ride — not  able  for  stand  on  him  foot." 

This  was  true  enough.  Strong  as  I  had  felt  in  bed, 
I  could  hardly  stand  upright  when  I  got  out  of  it. 

For  a  moment  Bob  seemed  undecided,  but  only 
for  a  moment ;  then,  stepping  up  to  the  mulatto,  he 
lifted  her,  fat  and  heavy  as  she  was,  in  the  same 
manner  as  he  had  done  her  partner,  at  least  a  foot 
from  the  ground,  and  carried  her  screaming  and 
struggling  to  the  door,  which  he  kicked  open.  Then 
setting  her  down  outside,  "  Silence ! "  roared  he,  "  and 


LYNCH  LAW.  *  147 

some  strong  tea  instead  of  your  cursed  chatter,  and 
a  fresh  beef-steak  instead  of  your  stinking  carcass. 
That  will  strengthen  the  gentleman;  so  be  quick 
about  it,  you  old  brown-skinned  beast,  you  I" 

I  had  slept  in  my  clothes,  and  my  toilet  was  con- 
sequently soon  made,  by  the  help  of  a  bowl  of  water 
and  a  towel,  which  Bob  made  Johnny  bring,  and 
then  ordered  him  to  go  and  get  our  horses  ready. 

A  hearty  breakfast  of  tea,  butter,  Indian-corn 
bread,  and  steaks,  increased  my  strength  so  much, 
that  I  was  able  to  mount  my  mustang.  I  had  still 
pains  in  all  my  limbs,  but  we  rode  slowly ;  the 
morning  was  bright,  the  air  fresh  and  elastic,  and  I 
felt  myself  gradually  getting  better.  Our  path  led 
through  the  prairie ;  the  river,  fringed  with  wood,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  vast  ocean  of  grass,  sprinkled  with 
innumerable  islands  of  trees,  on  the  other.  "We  saw 
abundance  of  game,  which  sprang  up  under  the  very 
feet  of  our  horses  ;  but  although  Bob  had  his  rifle,  he 
made  no  use  of  it.  He  muttered  continually  to  him- 
self, and  seemed  to  be  arranging  what  he  should  say 
to  the  judge ;  for  I  heard  him  talking  of  things  which 
I  would  just  as  soon  not  have  listened  to,  if  I  could 
have  helped  it.  I  was  heartily  glad  when  we  at 
length  reached  the  plantation  of  the  Alcalde. 


148  ADVENTUKES  IN  TEXAS. 

'It  seemed  a  very  considerable  one,  and  the  size 
and  appearance  of  the  frame-work  house  bespoke 
comfort  and  even  luxnry.  The  building  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  group  of  China  trees,  which  I  should 
have  thought  about  ten  years  of  age,  but  which  I 
afterward  learned  had  not  been  planted  half  that 
time,  although  they  were  already  large  eiiough  to 
afford  a  very  agreeable  shade.  Eight  in  front  of  the 
house  rose  a  live  oak,  inferior  in  size  to  the  one  in 
the  prairie,  but  still  of  immense  age  and  great 
beauty.  To  the  left  were  some  two  hundred  acres 
of  cotton  fields,  extending  to  the  bank  of  the  Jacinto, 
which  at  this  spot  made  a  sharp  turn,  and  winding 
round  the  plantation,  inclosed  it  on  three  sides. 
Before  the  house  lay  the  prairie,  with  its  archipelago 
of  islands,  and  herds  of  grazing  cattle  and  mus- 
tangs ;  to  the  right,  more  cotton  fields ;  and  in  rear 
of  the  dwelling,  the  negro  cottages  and  out-buildings. 
There  was  a  Sabbath-like  stillness  pervading  the 
whole  scene,  which  seemed  to  strike  even  Bob.  He 
paused  as  though  in  deep  thought,  and  allowed  his 
hand  to  rest  for  a  moment  on  the  handle  of  the 
lattice  door.  Then,  with  a  sudden  and  resolute  jerk, 
bespeaking  an  equally  energetic  resolve,  he  pushed 
open  the  gate,  and  we  entered  a  garden  planted  with 


LYNCH   LAW.  149 

orange,  banana,  and  citron  trees,  the  path  through 
which  was  inclosed  between  palisades,  and  led  to  a 
sort  of  front  conrt,  with  another  lattice-work  door, 
beside  which  hnng  a  bell.  Upon  ringing  this,  a 
negro  appeared. 

The  black  seemed  to  know  Bob  very  well,  for  he 
nodded  to  him  as  to  an  old  acquaintance,  and  said 
the  squire  wanted  him,  and  asked  after  him  several 
times.  He  then  led  the  way  to  a  large  parlor,  very 
handsomely  furnished  for  Texas,  and  in  which  we 
found  the  squire,  or  more  properly  speaking,  the 
Alcalde,  sitting  smoking  his  cigar.  He  had  just 
breakfasted,  and  the  plates  and  dishes  were  still  upon 
the  table.  He  did  not  appear  to  be  much  given  to 
compliments  or  ceremony,  or  to  partake  at  all  of 
the  Yankee  failing  of  curiosity,  for  he  answered 
our  salutation  with  a  laconic  "good-morning,"  and 
scarcely  even  looked  at  us.  At  the  very  first  glance, 
it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  came  from  Tennessee  or 
Virginia,  the  only  provinces  in  which  one  finds  men 
of  his  gigantic  mould.  Even  sitting,  his  head  rose 
above  those  of  the  negro  servants  in  waiting.  Nor 
was  his  height  alone  remarkable ;  he  had  the  true 
"West-Yirginian  build ;  the  enormous  chest  and  shoul- 
dofs,  and  herculean  limbs,  the  massive  features  and 


'^ 


150  ADYENTtJRES   IN  TEXAS.  *' 

sharp  gray  eyes  ;  altogether  an  exterior  well  calcu- 
lated to  impose  on  the  rough  backwoodsmen  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal. 

I  was'  tired  with  my  ride,  and  took  a  chair.  The 
squire  apparently  did  not  deem  me  worthy  of  notice, 
or  else  reserved  me  for  a  later  scrutiny ;  but  he  fixed 
a  long,  searching  look  upon  Bob,  who  remained 
standing,  with  his  head  sunk  on  his  breast. 

The  judge  at  last  broke  silence. 

"So  here  you  are  again.  Bob.  It's  long  since 
we've  seen  you,  and  I  thought  you  had  clean  for- 
gotten us.  Well,  Bob,  we  shouldn't  have  broke  our 
hearts,  I  reckon;  for  I  hate  gamblers — ay,  that  I 
do — worse  than  skunks.  It's  a  vile  thing  is  play, 
and  has  ruined  many  a  man,  both  in  this  world  and 
the  next.    It's  ruined  you  too,  Bob." 

Bob  said  nothing. 

"You'd  have  been  mighty  useful  here  last  week; 
there  was  plenty  for  you  to  do.  My  step-daughter 
arrived ;  but  as  you  were  n't  to  be  found,  we  had  to 
send  to  Joel  to  shoot  us  a  buck  and  a  few  snipes. 
Ah,  Bob !  one  might  still  make  a  good  citizen  of  you, 
if  you  'd  only  leave  off  that  cursed  j)lay ! " 

Bob  still  remained  silent. 

"Now  go  into  the  kitchen  and  get  some  breakfast" 


LYNCH  LAW. 


m 


Bob  neither  answered  nor  moved. 

"D'ye  bear?  Go  into  tbe  kitcben  and  get  some- 
tbing  to  eat  And,  Ptoly" — added  be  to  tbe  ne- 
gro—  "tell  Yeny  to  give  bim  a  pint  of  rum." 

"Don't  want  yer  rum — aint  thirsty" — growled 
Bob. 

"Yery  like,  very  like,"  said  tbe  judge  sharply. 
"Keckon  you've  taken  too  much  already.  Look  as 
if  you  could  swallow  a  wild-cat  alive.  And  you," 
added  be,  turning  to  me — "Ptoly,  what  tbe  devil 
are  you  at?  Don't  you  see  tbe  man  wants  bis  break- 
fast? Where's  tbe  coffee?  Or  would  you  rather 
have  tea?" 

"Thank  you,  Alcalde,  I  have  breakfasted  already." 

"Don't  look  as  if.  Ain't  sick,  are  you?  Where 
do  you  come  from ?  What's  happened  to  you?  Ain't 
got  tbe  ague,  have  you  ?  What  are  you  doing  with 
Bob?" 

He  looked  keenly  and  searcbingly  at  me,  and  then 
again  at  Bob.  My  appearance  was  certainly  not  very 
prepossessing,  unshaven  as  I  was,  and  with  my 
clothes  and  linen  soiled  and  torn.  He  was  evidently 
considering  what  could  be  tbe  motive  of  our  visit, 
and  what  had  brought  me  into  Bob's  society.  Tbe 
result   of  bis  physiognomical   observations   did   not 


1^  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

appear  very  favorable  either  to  me  or  my  companion. 
I  hastened  to  explain. 

"  You  shall  hear  how  it  was,  judge.  I  am  indebted 
to  Bob  for  my  life." 

"  Your  life  I  Indebted  to  Bob  for  your  life  ! "  re- 
peated the  judge,  shaking  his  head  incredulously. 

I  related  now  I  had  lost  my  way  in  the  prairie ; 
had  been  carried  into  the  Jacinto  by  my  hoi-se  ;  and 
how  I  should  inevitably  have  been  drowned  but  for 
Bob's  aid. 

"Indeed!"  said  the  judge,  when  I  had  done  speak- 
ing. So  Bob  saved  your  life !  Is  that  true.  Bob  ? 
"Well,  I  am  glad  of  it,  Bob — very  glad  of  it.  Ah  I 
if  you  could  only  keep  away  from  that  Johnny.  I 
tell  you.  Bob,  Johnny  will  be  the  ruin  of  you. 
Better  keep  out  of  his  way." 

This  was  spoken  gravely  and  earnestly,  the  speaker 
pausing  between  the  sentences  to  take  a  pull  at  his 
cigar,  and  a  sup  out  of  his  glass. 

"  Yes,  Bob,"  he  repeated  ;  "  only  keep  away  from 
Johnny ! " 

"It's  too  late,"  answered  Bob. 
■  "Do  n't  know  why  it  should  be.    Never  too  late  to 
leave  a  debauched,  sinful  life ;  never,  man ! " 

"  Calkilate  it  is,  though,"  replied  Bob,  sullenly. 


LYNCH   LAW.  153 

"You  calculate  it  is?"  said  the  judge  fixiDg  his 
eyes  upon  him.  "And  why  do  you  calculate  that? 
Take  a  glass — Ptoly,  a  glass — and  tell  me,  man, 
why  should  it  be  too  late?" 

"I  ain't  thirsty,  squire,"  said  Bob. 

"Don't  talk  to  me  of  your  thirst ;  rum's  not  for 
thirst,  but  to  strengthen  the  heart  and  nerves,  to 
drive  away  the  blue-devils.  And  a  good  thing  it  is, 
taken  in  moderation." 

As  he  spoke  he  filled  himself  a  glass,  and  drank 
lialf  of  it  oif.    Bob  shook  his  head. 

"No  rum  for  me,  squire.  I  take  no  pleasure  in 
it.  1  've  something  on  my  mind  too  heavy  for  rum 
to  wash  away." 

"And  what  is  that,  Bob?  Come,  let's  hear  what 
you've  got  to  say.  Or,  perhaps,  you'd  rather  speak 
to  me  alone.  It's  Sunday  to-day,  and  no  business 
ought  to  be  done  ;  but  for  once,  and  for  you,  we  '11 
make  an  exception." 

"I  brought  the  gentleman  with  me  on  purpose  to 
witness  what  I  had  to  say,"  answered  Bob,  taking 
a  cigar  out  of  the  box  that  stood  on  the  table. 
Although  the  judge  had  not  [  asked  him  to  take 
one,  he  very  quietly  offered  him  a  light,  Bob 
smoked  a  whiff  or  two,  looked  thoughtfully  at  the 
7* 


154  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

judge,  and  then  threw  the  cigar  through  the  open 
window. 

"It  don't  relish,  squire  ;  nothin'  does  now." 

"Ah,  Bob!  if  you'd  leave  off  play  and  drink! 
They  're  your  ruin  ;  worse  than  the  ague  or  fever." 

"It's  no  use,"  continued  Bob,  as  if  he  did  not  hear 
the  judge's  remark  ;  it  must  out.  I  fo't  agin  it, 
and  thought  to  drive  it  away,  but  it  can't  be  done. 
I  've  put  a  bit  of  lead  into  several  before  now,  but 
this  one" 

"What's  that?"  cried  the  judge,  chucking  his 
cigar  away,  and  looking  sternly  at  Bob.  "What's 
up  now?  What  are  you  saying  about  a  bit  of  lead? 
None  of  your.  Sodoma  and  Lower  Natchez  tricks,  I 
hope?  They  won't  do  here.  Don't  understand  such 
jokes." 

"Pooh!  they  don't  understand  them  a  bit  more  in 
Natchez.    If  they  did,  I  shouldn't  be  in  Texas." 

"The  less  said  of  that  the  better.  Bob.  You  prom- 
ised to  lead  a  new  life  here  ;  so  we  won't  rake  up  old 
stories." 

"I  did,  I  did!"  groaned  Bob;  "and  I  meant  it 
too  ;  but  it 's  all  no  use.  I  shall  never  be  better  till 
I  'm  hung." 

I  stared  at  the  man  in  astonishment.    The  judge, 


LYNCH  LAW.  155 

however,  took  another  cigar,  lighted  it,  and,  after 
puffing  out  a  cloud  of  smoke,  said,  very  uncon- 
cernedly— 

"Not  better  till  you're  hung!  What  do  you  want 
to  be  hung  for?  To  be  sure,  you  should  have  been 
long  ago,  if  the  Georgia  and  Alabama  papers  don't 
lie.  But  we  are  not  in  the  States  here,  but  in  Texas, 
under  Mexican  laws.  It's  nothing  to  us  what  you've 
done  yonder.  Where  there  is  no  accuser  there  can 
be  no  judge." 

"Send  away  the  nigger,  squire,"  said  Bob.  "What 
a  free  white  man  has  to  say,  should  n't  be  heard  by 
black  ears." 

"Go  away,  Ptoly,"  said  the  judge.  "I^ow  then," 
added  he,  turning  to  Bob,  "say  what  you  have  to 
say ;  but  mind,  nobody  forces  you  to  do  it,  and  it 's 
only  out  of  good-will  that  I  listen  to  you,  for  to-day 's 
Sunday." 

"I  know  that,"  muttered  Bob;  "I  know  that, 
but  it  leaves  me  no  peace,  and  it  must  out.  I've 
been  to  San  Felipe  de  Austin,  to  Anahuac,  every- 
where, but  it's  all  no  use.  Wherever  I  go  the  specter 
follows  me,  and  drives  me  back  under  the  cursed 
Patriarch." 

"Under  the  Patriarch !"  exclaimed  the  judge. 


156  ADVENTFEES   IN  TEXAS. 

"  Ay,  under  the  Patriarch ! "  groaned  Bob.  "  Do  n't 
you  know  the  Patriarch ;  the  old  live  oak  near  the 
ford,  on  the  Jacinto?" 

"I  know,  I  know!"  answered  the  judge.  "And 
what  drives  you  under  the  Patriarch?" 

"What  drives  me?  What  drives  a  man  who  — 
who" 

"A  man  who" repeated  the  judge,  gently. 

"A  man,"  continued  Bob,  in  the  same  low  tone, 
"  who  has  sent  a  rifle  bullet  into  another's  heart.  He 
lies  there,  under  the  Patriarch,  whom  I" 

"Whom  you?"  asked  the  judge. 

"  Whom  I  hilled  r'^  said  Bob,  in  a  hollow  whisper. 

"  Killed ! "  exclaimed  the  judge.  "  You  killed  him  ? 
Who?" 

"Ah  !  who?  Why  don't  you  let  me  speak?  You 
always  interrupt  me  with  your  palaver,"  growled  Bob. 

"You  are  getting  saucy,  Bob,"  said  the  judge  im- 
patiently. "Go  on,  however.  I  reckon  it 's  only  one 
of  vour  usual  tantrums." 

Bob  shook  his  head.  The  judge  looked  keenly  at 
him  for  a  moment,  and  then  resumed  in  a  sort  of 
confidential,  encouraging  tone. 

"  Under  the  Patriarch ;  and  how  did  he  come 
under  the  Patriarch?" 


LYNCH  LAW.  157 

"I  dragged  him  there,  and  buried  him  there," 
replied  Bob. 

"Dragged  him  there!  Why  did  you  drag  him 
there?" 

"Becansehe  couldn't  go  himself,  with  more  than 
half  an  ounce  of  lead  in  his  body." 

"And  you  put  the  half  ounce  of  lead  into  him, 
Bob?  Well,  if  it  was  Johnny,  you've  done  the 
country  a  service,  and  saved  it  a  rope." 

Bob  shook  his  head  negatively. 

"It   wasn't  Johnny,  although But  you  shall 

hear  all  about  it.  It's  just  ten  days  since  you  paid 
me  twenty  dollars  ^^j^'* 

"I  did  60,  Bob;  twenty  dollars  fifty  cents;  and  I 
advised  you  at  the  same  time  to  let  the  money  lie  till 
you  had  a  couple  of  hundred  dollars,  or  enough  to 
buy  a  quarter  or  an  eighth  of  Sitio  land ;  but  advice 
is  thrown  away  upon  you." 

"When  I  got  the  money,  I  thought  I'd  go  down 
to  San  Felipe,  to  the  Mexicans,  and  try  my  luck,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  to  see  the  doctor  about  my  fever. 
As  I  was  goin'  there,  I  passed  near  Johnny's  house, 
and  fancied  a  glass,  but  determined  not  to  get  off  my 
horse.  I  rode  up  to  the  window,  and  looked  in. 
There  was  a  man  sittin'  at  the  table,  havin'  a  hearty 


168  ADVEMTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

good  dinner  of  steaks  and  potatoes,  and  washin'  it 
down  with  a  stiff  glass  of  grog.  I  began  to  feel 
hungry  myself,  and  while  I  was  considerin'  whether 
I  should  'light  or  not,  Johnny  came  sneakin'  out,  and 
whispered  to  me  to  come  in,  that  there  was  a  man 
inside  with  whom  somethin'  might  be  done  if  we 
went  the  right  way  to  work ;  a  man  who  had  a 
leather  belt  round  his  ^vsLisi  cram-full  of  hard  Jack- 
son ;  and  that  if  we  got  out  the  cards  and  pretended 
to  play  a  little  together,  he  would  soon  take  the  bait 
and  join  us. 

"I  wasn't  much. inclined,"  continued  Bob;  "but 
Johnny  bothered  me  so  to  go  in,  that  I  got  off  my 
horse.  As  I  did  so,  the  dollars  chinked  in  my 
pocket,  and  the  sound  was  like  the  devil's  voice 
'ticing  me  to  play. 

"  I  went  in ;  and  Johnny  fetched  me  the  whisky 
bottle.  One  glass  followed  another.  There  were 
beefsteaks  and  potatoes  too,  but  I  only  eat  a  couple 
of  mouthfuls.  When  I  had  drank  two,  three,  ay,  four 
glasses,  Johnny  brought  the  cards  and  dice.  'Hallo, 
Johnny!'  says  I;  *  cards  and  dice,  Johnny!  I've 
twenty  dollars  fifty  in  my  pocket.  Let's  have  a 
game!  But  no  more  drink  for  me;  for  I  know  you, 
Johnny,  I  know  you' 


LTNOH  LAW.  169 

"Johnny  larfed  slyly,  and  rattled  the  dice,  and 
we  sat  down  to  play.  I  had  n't  meant  to  drink  any 
more,  but  play  makes  one  thirsty ;  and  with  every 
glass  1  got  more  eager,  and  my  dollare  got  fewer.  I 
reckoned,  Iiowever,  that  the  stranger  would  join  lis, 
and  that  I  should  be  able  to  win  back  from  him ;  biit 
not  a  bit  of  it :  he  sat  quite  quiet,  and  ate  and  drank 
as  if  he  didn't  see  we  were  there.  I  went  on  playin' 
madder  than  ever,  and  before  half  an  hour  was  over,  I 
was  cleaned  out ;  my  twenty  dollars  fifty  gone  to  the 
devil,  or  what's  the  same  thing,  into  Johnny's  pocket. 

"When  I  found  myself  without  a  cent,  I  was  mad, 
I  reckon.  It  wam't  the  first  time,  nor  the  hundredth, 
that  I  had  lost  money.  Many  bigger  sums  than 
that — ay,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  dollars  had  I 
played,  away — but  they  had  none  of  them  cost  me 
the  hundredth  or  thousandth  part  of  the  trouble  to 
get  that  these  twenty  dollars  fifty  had ;  two  full 
months  had  I  been  slavin'  away  in  the  woods  and 
prairies  to  aim  them,  and  caught  the  fever  there. 
The  fever  I  had  still,  but  no  money  to  cure  it  with. 
Johnny  only  larfed  in  ray  face,  and  rattled  my  dol- 
lars. I  made  a  hit  at  him,  which,  if  he  hadn't 
jumped  on  one  side,  would  have  cured  him  of  larfin' 
for  a  week  or  two. 


160  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

"Presently,  however,  he  came  sneakin'  up  to  me 
and  winkin,  and  whisperin';  and,  'Bob!'  says  he, 
'is  it  come  to  that  with  you?  are  you  grown  so 
chicken-hearted  that  you  don't  see  the  beltful  of 
money  round  his  body?'  said  he,  lookin'  at  it.  'No 
end  of  hard  coin,  I  guess;  and  all  to  be  had  for 
little  more  than  half  an  ounce  of  lead.' " 

"Did  he  say  that?"  asked  the  judge. 

"Ay,  that  did  he,  but  I  wouldn't  listen  to  him.  I 
was  mad  with  him  for  winning  my  twenty  dollars  ;  and 
I  told  him  that,  if  he  wanted  the  stranger's  purse,  he 

might  take  it  himself,  and  be  d d  ;  that  I  wasn't 

goin'  to  pull  the  hot  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  him. 
And   I  got  on  my  horse,  and  rode  away  like  mad. 

"  My  head  spun  round  like  a  mill.  I  could  n't  get 
over  my  loss.  I  took  the  twenty  dollars  fifty  more  to 
heart  than  any  money  I  had  ever  gambled.  I  did  n't 
know  where  to  go.  I  did  n't  dare  go  back  to  you,  for 
I  knew  you  would  scold  me." 

"I  shouldn't  have  scolded  you.  Bob ;  or,  if  I  had, 
it  would  only  have  been  for  your  good.  I  should 
have  summoned  Johnny  before  me,  called  together  a 
jury  of  twelve  of  the  neighbors,  got  you  back  your 
twenty  dollars  fifty,  and  sent  Johnny  out  of  the 
country ;  or,  better  still,  out  of  the  world." 


LYNCH   LAW.  161 

These  words  were  spoken  with  much  phlegm,  but 
yet  with  a  degree  of  feeling  and  sympathy  which 
greatly  improved  my  opinion  of  the  worthy  judge. 
Bob  also  seemed  touched.  He  drew  a  deep  sigh,  and 
gazed  at  the  Alcalde  with  a  melancholy  look. 

"  It's  too  late,"  muttered  he ;  "too  late,  squire." 

"Perhaps  not,"  replied  the  judge;  but  let's  hear 
the  rest." 

"Well,"  continued  Bob,  "I  kept  ridin'  on  at  ran- 
dom, and  when  evenin'  came  I  found  myself  near  the 
palmetto  field  on  the  bank  of  the  Jacinto.  As  I  was 
ridin'  past  it,  I  heard  all  at  once  a  tramp  of  a  horse. 
At  that  moment  the  queerest  feelin'  I  ever  had  camo 
over  me ;  a  sort  of  cold  shiverin'  feel.  I  forgot  where 
I  was ;  sight  and  hearin'  left  me ;  I  could  only  see 
two  things,  my  twenty  dollars  fifty,  and  the  well-filled 
belt  of  the  stranger  I  had  left  at  Johnny's.  Just 
then  a  voice  called  to  me. 

"'Whence  come,  countryman,  and  whither  going?' 
it  said. 

" '  Whence  and  whither,'  answered  I,  as  surly  as 
could  be;  'to  the  devil  at  a  gallop,  and  you'd  better 
ride  on  and  teU  him  I'm  comin'.' 

"'You  can  do  the  eiTand  yourself,'  answered  the 
stranger,  larfin' ;  'my  road  don't  lie  that  way,' 


162  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

"  As  he  spoke,  I  looked  round,  and  saw,  what  I  was 
pretty  sure  of  before,  that  it  was  the  man  with  the 
belt  full  of  money. 

"'Ain't  you  the  stranger  I  see'd  in  the  inn  yonder?' 
asked  he. 

"'And  if  I  am,'  says  I,  'what's  that  to  you?' 

"'Nothin','  said  he;  'nothin',  certainly.' 

"'Better  ride  on,'  says  I,  'and  leave  me  quiet.' 

"'Will  so,  stranger;  but  you  needn't  take  it  so 
mighty  onkind.  A  word  ain't  a  tomahawk,  I  reckon,' 
said  he.  'But  I  rayther  expect  your  losin's  at  play 
ain't  put  you  in  a  very  church-goin'  humor ;  and,  if 
I  was  you,  I'd  keep  my  dollars  in  my  pocket,  and 
not  set  them  on  cards  and  dice.' 

"It  riled  me  to  hear  him  cast  my  losin's  in  my 
teeth  that  way. 

"'You're  a  nice  feller,  said  I,  'to  throw  a 
man's  losses  in  his  face.  A  pitiful  chaj)  you  are,' 
says  I. 

"I  thought  to  provoke  him,  and  that  he'd  tackle 
me.  But  he  seemed  to  have  no  fancy  for  a  fight,  for 
he  said,  quite  humble  like — 

"'I  throw  nothin'  in  your  face ;  God  forbid  I  should 
reproach  you  with  your  losses!^ I'm  sorry  for  you, 
on  the  contrary.    Don't  look  like  a  man  who  can 


LYNCH  lAW.  163 

afford  to  lose  his  dollars.  Seem  to  me  one  who 
aims  his  money  by  hard  work.' 

"  We  were  just  then  halted  at  the  ftirther  end  of 
the  cane-brake,  close  to  the  trees  that  border  the 
Jacinto.  I  had  tnmed  my  horse,  and  was  frontin' 
the  stranger.  And  all  the  time  the  devil  was  busy 
whisperin'  to  me,  and  pointin'  to  the  belt  round  tlie 
man's  waist.  I  could  see  where  it  was  plain  enough, 
though  he  had  buttoned  his  coat  over  it. 

"'Hard  work,  indeed,' says  I;  'and  now  I've  lost 
every  thing ;  not  a  cent  left  for  a  quid  of  baccy.' 

"'If  that's  all,'  says  he,  'there's  help  for  that.  I 
don't  chew  myself,  and  I  ain't  a  rich  man ;  I've  wife 
and  children,  and  want  every  cent  I've  got,  but  its 
one's  duty  to  help  a  countryman.  You  shall  have 
money  for  tobacco  and  a  dram.' 

"  And  so  sayin',  he  took  a  purse  out  of  his  pocket, 
in  which  he  carried  his  change.  It  was  pretty  full ; 
there  may  have  been  some  twenty  dollars  in  it ;  and 
as  he  drew  the  string,  it  was  as  if  the  devil  laughed 
and  ^dded  to  me  out  of  the  openin'  of  the  purse. 

"'Halves!'  cried  I. 

"'No,  not  that,'  says  he ;  'I've  wife  and  child,  and 
what  I  have  belongs  to  them  ;  but  half  a  dollar ' 

"'Halves!'  cried  I  again,  'or  else ' 


164:  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

"*0r  else?'  repeated  he;  and  as  he  spoke,  he  put 
the  purse  back  into  his  pocket,  and  laid  hold  of  the 
rifle  which  was  slung  on  his  shoulder. 

"'Don't  force  me  to  do  you  a  mischief,'  said  he, 
'Don't,'  says  he;  'we  might  both  be  sorry  for  it. 
"What  you're  thinkin'  of  brings  no  blessin'.' 

"I  was  past  seein' or  hearin'.  A  thousand  devils 
from  hell  possessed  me. 

"'Halves!'  I  screeched  out;  and,  as  I  said  the 
word,  he  sprang  out  of  the  saddle,  and  fell  back  over 
his  horse's  crupper  to  the  ground. 

"'I'm  a  dead  man!'  cried  he,  as  well  as  the  rattle 
in  his  throat  would  let  him.  'God  be  merciful  to 
me!    My  poor  wife,  my  poor  children!'" 

Bob  paused ;  he  gasped  for  breath,  and  the  sweat 
stood  in  large  drops  upon  his  forehead.  He  gazed 
wildly  round  the  room.  The  judge  himself  looked 
very  pale.  I  tried  to  rise,  but  sank  back  in  my  chair. 
"Without  the  table,  I  believe  I  should  have  fallen  to 
the  ground. 

There  was  a  gloomy  pause  of  some  moments' 
duration.    At  last  the  judge  broke  silence. 

"A  hard,  hard  case!"  said  he.  "Father,  mother, 
children,  all  at  one  blow.  Bob,  you  are  a  bad  fellow ; 
a  very  bad  fellow ;  a  great  villain ! " 


LYNCH  LAW.  165 

"A  great  villain,"  groaned  Bob.  "The  ball  was 
gone  right  through  his  breast." 

"  Perhaps  your  gun  went  off  by  accident,"  said  the 
judge,  anxiously.     "  Perhaps  it  was  his  own  ball." 
Bob  shook  his  head. 

"I  can  see  him  now,  judge,  as  plain  as  can  be, 
when  he  said,  'Don't  force  me  to  do  you  a  mischief; 
we  might  both  be  sorry  for  it.'  But  I  pulled  the 
trigger.     His  bullet  is  still  in  his  rifle. 

"  When  I  saw  him  lie  dead  before  me,  I  can't  tell 
you  what  I  felt.  It  wam't  the  first  I  had  sent  to  his 
account ;  but  yet  I  would  have  given  all  the  purses 
and  money  in  the  world  to  have  had  him  alive  agin. 
1  must  have  dragged  him  under  the  Patriarch,  and 
dug  a  grave  with  my  huntin'-knife,  for  I  found  him 
there  afterward." 

"You  found  him  tJiere?"  repeated  the  judge. 
"  Yes.    I  do  n't  know  how  he  came  there.    I  must 
have  brought  him,  but  I  recollect  nothin'  about  it." 
The   judge   had    risen  from  his   chair,   and  was 
walking  up  and  down  the  room,  apparently  in  deep 
thought.     Suddenly  he  stopped  short. 
"What  have  you  done  with  his  money?" 
"  I  took  his  purse,  but  buried  his  belt  with  him,  as 
well  as  a  flask  of  rum,  and  some  bread  and  beef  ho 


'*» 


166  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

had  brought  away  from  Johnny's.  I  set  out  for  San 
Felipe,  and  rode  the  whole  day.  In  the  evenin', 
when  I  looked  about  me,  expectin'  to  see  the  town, 
where  do  you  think  I  was?" 

The  judge  and  I  stared  at  him. 

"Under  the  Patriarch.  The  ghost  of  the  murdered 
man  had  driven  me  there.  I  had  no  peace  till  I'd 
dug  him  up  and  buried  him  agin.  "Next  day  I  set 
off  in  another  direction.  I  was  out  of  tobacco,  and 
I  started  across  the  prairie  to  Anahuac.  Lord,  what 
a  day  I  passed  I  Wherever  I  went,  he  stood  before 
me.  K  I  turned,  he  turned  too.  Sometimes  he  came 
behind  me,  and  looked  over  my  shoulder.  I  spurred 
my  mustang  till  the  blood  came,  hopin'  to  get  away 
from  him,  but  it  was  all  no  use.  I  thought  when  I 
got  to  Anahuac  I  should  be  quit  of  him,  and  I  gal- 
loped on  for  life  or  death.  But  in  the  evenin',  instead 
of  being  close  to  the  salt-works  as  I  expected,  ther 
was  I  agin,  under  the  Patriarch.  I  dug  him  up  a 
second  time,  and  sat  and  stared  at  him,  and  then 
buried  him  again." 

"  Queer  that,"  observed  the  judge. 

"Ay,  very  queer!"  said  Bob,  mournfully.  "But 
it's  all  no  use.  Nothin'  does  me  any  good.  I  shan't 
be  better — I  shall  never  have  peace  till  I'm  himg." 


LYNCH   LAW.  167 

Bob  evidently  felt  relieved  now;  lie  had  in  a 
manner  passed  sentence  on  himself.  Strange  as  it 
may  appear,  I  had  a  similar  feeling,  and  could  not 
help  nodding  my  head  approvingly.  The  judge  alone 
preserved  an  unmoved  countenance.    . 

"Indeed!"  said  he:  "indeed I  You  think  you'll 
be  no  better  till  you're  hung?^ 

"  Yes,"  answered  Bob,  with  eager  haste.  "  Hung 
on  the  same  tree  under  which  he  lies  buried." 

"Well,  if  you  will  have  it  so,  we'll  see  what  can 
be  done  for  you.  We'll  call  a  jury  of  the  neighbors 
together  to-morrow." 

"Thank  ye,  squire,"  murmured  Bob,  visibly  com 
forted  by  this  promise. 

"We'll  summon  a  jury,"  repeated  the  Alcalde, 
"and  see  what  can  be  done  for  you.  You'll  perhaps 
have  changed  your  mind  by  that  time." 

I  stared  at  him  like  one  fallen  from  the  clouds,  but 
he  did  not  seem  to  notice  my  surprise. 

"There  is,  perhaps,  some  other  way  to  get  rid  of 
your  life,  if  you  are  tired  of  it,"  he  continued. 
"We  might  hit  upon  one  that  would  satisfy  your 
conscience." 

Bob  shook  his  head.  I  involuntarily  made  the 
same  movement. 


'^i 


168  ADVENTURES  m  TEXAS. 

"At  any  rate,  we'll  hear  what  the  neighbors  say," 
added  the  judge. 

Bob  stepped  up  to  the  judge,  and  held  out  his  hand 
to  bid  him  farewell.  The  other  did  not  take  it,  and 
turning  to  me,  said,  "  You  had  better  stop  here,  I 
think." 

Bob  turned  round  impetuously. 

"The  gentleman  must  come  with  me." 

"Why  must  he?"  said  the  judge. 

"Ask  himself." 

I  again  explained  the  obligations  I  was  under 
to  Bob,  how  we  had  fallen  in  with  one  another, 
and  what  care  and  attention  he  had  shown  me  at 
Johnny's. 

The  judge  nodded  approvingly.  "Nevertheless," 
said  he,  "  you  will  remain  here,  and  Bob  go  alone. 
You  are  in  a  state  of  mind.  Bob,  in  which  a  man  is 
better  alone,  d'ye  see  ;  and  so  leave  the  young  man 
here.  Another  misfortune  might  happen;  and,  at 
any  rate,  he's  better  here  than  at  Johnny's.  Come 
back  to-morrow,  and  we'll  see  what  can  be  done 
for  you." 

These  words  were  spoken  in  a  decided  manner, 
which  seemed  to  have  its  effect  upon  Bob.  He 
nodded  assentingly,  and  left  the  room.    I  remained 


LYNCH  LAW.  169 

Btaring  at  the  judge,  and  lost  in  wonder  at  these 
strange  proceedings. 

When  Bob  was  gone,  the  Alcalde  gave  a  blast  on 
a  shell,  which  supplied  the  place  oi  a  bell.  Then 
seizing  the  cigar-box,  he  tried  one  cigar  after  another, 
broke  them  peevishly  up,  and  threw  the  pieces  out 
of  the  window.  The  negro,  whom  the  bell  had 
summoned,  stood  for  some  time  waiting,  while  his 
master  broke  up  the  cigars  and  threw  them  awaj. 
At  last  the  judge's  patience  seemed  quite  to  leave 
him. 

"Hark  ye,  Ptolyl"  growled  he  to  the  frightened 
black,  "the  next  time  you  bring  me  cigars  that 
neither  draw  nor  smoke,  I  '11  make  your  back  smoke 
for  it.  Mind  that  now.  There's  not  a  single  one  of 
them  worth  a  rotten  maize-stalk.  Tell  that  old 
coffee-colored  hag  of  Johnny's,  that  I'll  have  no 
more  of  her  cigars.  Ride  over  to  Mr.  Ducie's  and 
fetch  a  box.  And  d'ye  hear?  tell  him  I  want  to 
speak  a  word  with  him  and  the  neighbors.  Ask  him 
to  bring  the  neighbors  with  him  to-morrow  morning. 
And  mind  you  're  home  again  by  two  o'clock.  Take 
the  mustang  we  caught  last  week.  I  want  to  see 
how  he  goes." 

The  negro  listened  to  these  various  commands  with 

8 


170  ADVEirrURES  in  TEXAS. 

open  month  and  staring  eyes,  then,  giving  a  per- 
plexed look  at  his  master,  shot  out  of  the  room. 

"Whither  away,  Ptoly?"  shouted  the  Alcalde 
after  him.  • 

"To  Massa  Ducie." 

"  Without  a  pass,  Ptoly  ?  And  what  are  you  going 
to  say  to  Mr.  Ducie  ? " 

"Him  nebber  send  bad  cigar  again,  him  coffee- 
cullud  hag.  Massa  speak  to  Johnny  and  neighbors. 
Johnny  bring  neighbors  here." 

"I  thought  as  much,"  said  the  judge,  with  perfect 
equanimity.  "Wait  a  minute;  I '11  write  the  pass, 
and  a  couple  of  lines  for  Mr.  Ducie." 

This  was  soon  done,  and  the  negro  dispatched  on 
his  en*and.  The  judge  waited  till  he  heard  the  sound 
of  the  horse's  feet  galloping  away,  and  then,  laying 
hold  of  the  box  of  despised  cigars,  lit  the  first  which 
came  to  hand.  It  smoked  capitally,  as  did  also  one 
that  I  took.  They  were  Principes,  and  as  good  as  I 
ever  tasted. 

I  passed  the  whole  of  that  day  alone  with  the 
judge,  who,  I  soon  found,  knew  various  friends  of 
mine  in  the  States.  I  told  him  the  circumstances 
under  which  I  had  come  to  Texas,  and  the  intention 
I  had  of  settling  there,  should  I  find  the  country  to 


•  LYNCH  LAW.  iTl 

my  liking.  During  our  long  conversation,  I  was  able 
to  form  a  very  different,  and  much  more  favorable, 
estimate  of  his  character,  than  I  had  done  from  his 
interview  with  Bob.  He  was  the  very  man  to  bo 
useful  to  a  new  country;  of  great  energy,  sound 
judgment,  enlarged  and  liberal  views.  He  gave  me 
some  curious  information  as  to  the  state  of  things  in 
Texas;  and  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  conceal 
from  me,  as  an  American,  and  one  who  intended 
settling  in  the  country,  that  there  was  a  plan  in 
agitation  for  throwing  off  the  Mexican  "yoke,  and 
declaring  Texas  an  independent  republic.  The  high- 
spirited,  and,  for  the  most  part,  intelligent  emigrants 
from  the  United  States,  who  formed  a  very  large 
majority  of  the  population  of  Texas,  saw  themselves, 
with  no  very  patient  feeling,  under  the  rule  of  a 
people  both  morally  and  physically  inferior  to  them- 
selves. They  looked  with  contempt,  and  justly  so, 
on  the  bigoted,  idle,  and  ignorant  Mexicans,  while 
the  difference  of  religion,  and  the  interference  of  the 
priests,  served  to  increase  the  dislike  between  •  the 
Spanish  and  Anglo-American  races. 

Although  the  project  was  not  yet  quite  ripe  for 
execution,  it  was  discussed  freely  and  openly  by  the 
American  settlers.    "It  is  the  interest  of  every  man 


1Y2  ADVENTtTEES  tS  TEXAS. 

to  keep  it  secret,"  said  the  judge;  "and  there  can 
be  nothing  to  induce  even  the  worst  among  us  to 
betray  a  cause,  by  the  success  of  which  he  is  sure 
to  profit.  We  have  many  bad  characters  in  Texas, 
the  oiFscourings  of  the  United  States — men  like 
Bob,  or  far  worse  than  he  ;  but  debauched,  gambling, 
drunken  villains  though  they  be,  they  are  the  men 
we  want  when  it  comes  to  a  struggle  ;  and  when  that 
time  arrives,  they  will  all  be  found  ready  to  put 
their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  use  knife  and  rifle,  and 
shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  in  defense  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  and  of  the  new  and  independent  re- 
public of  Texas.  At  this  moment  we  must  wink  at 
many  things  which  would  be  severely  punished  in  an 
older  and  more  settled  country ;  each  man's  arm  is 
of  immense  value  to  the  State ;  for  on  the  day  of 
battle  we  shall  have,  not  two  to  one,  but  twenty  to 
one  opposed  to  us." 

I  was  awakened  the  following  morning  by  the  sound 
of  a  horse's  feet ;  and  looking  out  of  the  window, 
saw  Bob  dismounting  from  his  mustang.  The  last 
twenty-four  hours  had  told  fearfully  upon  him.  His 
limbs  seemed  powerless,  and  he  reeled  and  staggered 
in  such  a  manner  that  I  at  first  thought  him  intoxi- 
cated.    But  such  was  not  the  case.    His  was  the 


LYNCH  LAW.  173 

deadly  weariness  caused   by   mental  anguish.    He 
looked  like  one  just  taken  off  the  rack. 

Hastily  putting  on  my  clothes,  I  hurried  down 
Btairs  and  opened  the  house  door.  Bob  stood  with 
his  head  resting  on  his  horse's  neck,  and  his  hanc'ft 
crossed,  shivering  and  groaning.  "When  I  spoke  to 
him,  he  looked  up,  but  did  not  seem  to  know  me,  I 
tied  his  horse  to  a  post,  and  taking  his  hand,  led  him 
into  the  house.  He  followed  like  a  child,  apparently 
without  the  will  or  power  to  resist ;  and  when  I 
placed  him  a  chair,  he  fell  into  it  with  a  weight 
that  made  it  crack  under  him,  and  shook  the 
house.  I  could  not  get  him  to  speak,  and  was  about 
to  return  to  my  room  to  complete  my  toilet,  when 
I  again  heard  the  tramp  of  mustangs.  This  was 
a  party  of  half-a-dozen  horsemen,  all  dressed  in 
hunting  shirts  over  buckskin  breeches  and  jackets, 
and  armed  with  rifles  and  bowie-knives ;  stout, 
daring  looking  fellows,  evidently  from  the  south- 
western states,  with  the  true  Kentucky  half-horse 
half-alligator  profile,  and  the  usual  allowance  of 
thunder,  lightning,  and  earthquake.  It  struck  me, 
when  I  saw  them,  that  two  or  three  thousand  such 
men  would  have  small  difficulty  in  dealing  with  a 
whole  army  of  Mexicans,  if  the  latter  were  all  of  the 


174  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

pigmy,  spindle-shanked  breed  I  had  seen  on  first 
landing.  These  giants  could  easily  have  walked 
away  with  a  Mexican  in  each  hand. 

They  jumped  ofi"  their  horses,  and  threw  the  bridles 
to  the  negroes  in  the  usual  Kentuckian  devil-may-care 
style,  and  then  walked  into  the  house  with  the  air 
of  people  who  make  themselves  at  home  everywhere, 
and  who  know  themselves  to  be  more  masters  in 
Texas  than  the  Mexicans  themselves.  On  entering 
the  parlor,  they  nodded  a  "good-morning"  to  me, 
rather  coldly  to  be  sure,  for  they  had  seen  me  talking 
with  Bob,  which  probably  did  not  much  recommend 
me.  Presently,  four  more  horsemen  rode  up,  and 
then  a  third  party,  so  that  there  were  now  fourteen 
of  them  assembled,  all  decided-looking  men,  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  strength.  The  judge,  who  slept 
in  an  adjoining  room,  had  been  awakened  by  the 
noise.  I  heard  him  jump  out  of  bed,  and  not  three 
minutes  elapsed  before  he  entered  the  parlor. 

After  he  had  shaken  hands  with  all  his  visitors,  he 
presented  me  to  them,  and  I  found  that  I  was  in  the 
presence  of  no  less  important  persons  than  the  Ayun- 
tamiento  of  San  Felipe  de  Austin ;  and  that  two  of 
my  worthy  countrymen  were  corregidors,  one  a 
procurador,    and    the    others    luenoa    homlree^    or 


LYNOH  LAW.  175 

freeholders.  They  did  not  seem,  however,  to  prize 
their  titles  much,  for  they  addressed  one  another  by 
their  surnames  only. 

The  negro  brought  a  light,  opened  the  cigar-box, 
and  arranged  the  chairs;  the  judge  pointed  to  the 
sideboard  and  to  the  cigars,  and  then  sat  down. 
Some  took  a  dram,  others  lit  a  cigar. 

Several  minutes  elapsed,  during  which  the  men 
sat  in  perfect  silence,  as  if  they  were  collecting  their 
thoughts,  or  as  though  it  was  undignified  to  show 
any  haste  or  impatience  to  speak.  This  grave  sort 
of  deliberation,  which  is  met  with  among  certain 
classes,  and  in  certain  provinces  of  the  Union,  has 
often  struck  me  as  a  curious  feature  of  our  national 
character.  It  partakes  of  the  stoical  dignity  of  the 
Indian  at  his  council  fire,  and  the  stern  religious 
gravity  of  the  early  Puritan  settlers  in  America. 

During  this  pause  Bob  was  writhing  on  liis  chair 
like  a  worm,  his  face  concealed  by  his  hands,  his 
elbows  on  his  knees.  At  last,  when  all  had  drunk 
and  smoked,  the  judge  laid  down  his  cigar. 

"Men!"  said  he. 

"  Squire ! "  answered  they. 

**  We  Ve  a  business  before  us,  which  I  calculate  will 
be  best  explained  by  him  whom  it  concerns." 


176  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

The  men  looked  at  the  Squire,  then  at  Bob,  then 
at  me. 

"Bob  Rock!  or  whatever  your  name  may  be, 
if  you  have  aught  to  say,  say  it!"  continued  the 
judge. 

"  Said  it  all  yesterday,"  muttered  Bob,  his  face  still 
covered  by  his  hands. 

"Yes,  but  you  must  say  it  again  to-day.  Yester- 
day was  Sunday,  and  Sunday  is  a  day  of  rest,  and 
not  of  business.  I  will  neither  judge  you,  nor  allow 
you  to  be  judged,  by  what  you  said  yesterday. 
Besides,  it  was  all  between  ourselves,  for  I  don't 
reckon  Mr.  Morse  as  any  thing  ;  I  count  him  still  as 
a  stranger. 

"What's  the  use  of  so  much  palaver,  when  the 
thing's  plain  enough?"  said  Bob  peevishly,  raising 
his  head  as  he  spoke. 

The  men  stared  at  him  in  grave  astonishment.  He 
was  really  frightful  to  behold  ;  his  face  of  a  sort  of 
blue  tint;  his  cheeks  hollow;  his  beard  wild  and 
ragged  ;  his  blood-shot  eyes  rolling  and  deep  sunk  in 
their  sockets.    His  appearance  was  scarcely  human. 

"I  tell  you  again,"  said  the  judge,  "I  will  condemn 
no  man  upon  his  one  w^ord  alone;  much  less  you, 
who  have  been  in  my  service,  and  eaten  of  my  b<:ead. 


LYNCH  LAW.  177 

You  accuiiod  yourself  yesterday,  but  you  were  de- 
lirious at  the  time  —  you  had  the  fever  upon  you,'* 

"It's  no  use,  Squire,"  said  Bob,  apparently  touched 
by  the  kindness  of  the  judge.  "  You  mean  well,  2 
Bee ;  but  though  you  might  deliver  me  out  of  men's 
hands,  you  could  n't  rescue  me  from  myself.  It 's  no 
use — I  must  be  hung — hung  on  the  same  tree  under 
which  the  man  I  killed  lies  buried." 

The  men,  or  the  jurors,  as  I  may  call  them,  looked 
at  one  another,  but  said  nothing. 

"It's  no  use,"  again  cried  Bob,  in  a  shrill,  agonizing 
tone.  "K  he  had  attacked  me,  or  only  threatened 
me ;  but  no,  he  did  n't  do  it.  I  hear  his  words  still, 
when  he  said, '  do  it  not  man !  I  've  a  wife  and  child. 
What  you  intend  brings -no  blessin'  on  the  doer.' 
But  I  heard  nothin'  then  except  the  voice  of  the 
devil ;  I  brought  the  rifle  down — leveled — fired — " 

The  man's  agony  was  so  intense  that  even  the  iron- 
featured  jury  seemed  moved  by  it.  They  cast  sharp 
but  stolen  glances  at  Bob.    There  was  a  short  silence. 

"So  you  have  killed  a  man?"  said  a  deep  bass 
voice  at  last. 

"Ay,  that  have  I!"  gasped  Bob. 

"And  how  came  that?"  continued  his  questioner. 

"How   it    came?     You  must   ask  the  devil,  or 

8* 


178  ADVENTTJRES  IN  TEXAS. 

Johnny.  No,  not  Johnny,  he  can  tell  you  nothing ; 
he  was  not  there.  No  one  can  tell  you  but  me ;  and 
I  hardly  know  how  it  was.  The  man  was  at  Johnny's, 
and  Johnny  showed  me  his  belt  full  of  money." 

"Johnny!"  exclaimed  several  of  the  jury. 

"Ay,  Johnny!  He  reckoned  on  winning  it  from 
him,  but  the  man  was  too  cautious  for  that ;  and  when 
Johnny  had  plucked  all  my  feathers,  won  my  twenty 
doUars  fifty " 

"Twenty  dollars  fifty  cents,"  interposed  the  judge, 
"  which  I  paid  him  for  catching  mustangs  and  shoot- 
ing game." 

The  men  nodded. 

"And  then,  because  he  wouldn't  play,  you  shot 
him  ? "  asked  the  same  deep-toned  voice  as  before. 

"No — some  hours  after — by  the  Jacinto,  near 
the  Patriarch — met  him  down  there  and  killed 
him." 

"  Thought  there  was  something  out  o'  the  common 
thereaway,"  said  one  of  the  jury  ;  "for  as  we  rode  by 
the  tree  a  whole  nation  of  kites  and  turkey  buzzards 

flew  out.    Did  n't  they,  Mr.  Heart  ? " 

« 

Mr.  Heart  nodded. 

"Met  him  by  the  river,  and  wanted  halves  of  his 
money,"   continued   Bob,  mechanically.      "  He  said 


LTNC5H  LAW.  1Y9 

he'd  give  me  something  to  buy  a  quid,  and  more 
than  enough  for  that,  but  not  halves.  'I've  wife  and 
child,'  said  he " 

"And  you?"  asked  the  juror  with  the  deep  voice, 
which,  at  this  time,  had  a  hollow  sound  in  it. 

"Shot  him  down,"  said  Bob,  with  a  wild,  hoarse 
laugh. 

There  was  a  dead  silence  of  some  duration.  The 
jury  sat  with  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground. 

"And  who  was  the  man?"  said  a  juror  at  last. 

"Didn't  ask  him;  and  it  wam't  written  in  his 
face.  He  was  from  the  States ;  but  whether  a 
hosier,  or  a  buckeye,  or  a  mudhead,  is  more  than  I 
can  say."  * 

"The  thing  must  be  investigated.  Alcalde,"  said 
another  of  the  jury,  after  a  second  pause. 

"It  must  so,"  answered  the  Alcalde. 

""What's  the  good  of  so  much  investigation?" 
grumbled  Bob. 

""What  good?"  repeated  Alcalde.  "Because  we 
owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  the  dead  man,  and  to  you,  not 
to  sentence  you  without  having  held  an  inquest  on 
the  body.  There 's  another  thing  which  I  must  call 
your  attention  to,"  continued  he,  turning  to  the  jury  ; 
"the  man  is  half   out  of  his   mind — not   compos 


180  ADYENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

mentis^  as  they  say.  He 's  got  the  fever,  and  had  it 
when  he  did  the  deed ;  he  was  urged  on  by  Johnny, 
and  maddened  by  his  losses  at  play.  In  spite  of  his 
wild  excitement,  however,  he  saved  that  gentleman's 
life  yonder,  Mr.  Edward  I^athaniel  Morse." 

"Did  he  so?"  said  one  of  the  jury. 

"That  did  he,"  replied  I,  "not  only  by  saving  me 
from  drowning  when  my  horse  dragged  me,  half-dead 
and  helpless,  into  the  river,  but  also  by  the  care  and 
attention  he  forced  Johnny  and  his  mulatto  to  bestow 
upon  me.  Without  him  I  should  not  be  alive  at 
this  moment." 

Bob  gave  me  a  look  which  went  to  my  heart.  The 
tears  were  standing  in  his  eyes.  The  jury  heard  me 
in  deep  silence. 

"It  seems  that  Johnny  led  you  on  and  excited 
you  to  this?"  said  one  of  the  jurors. 

"I  didn't  say  that.    I  only  said  that  he  pointed 

to  the  man's  money-bag,  and   said But  what  is 

it  to  you.  what  Johnny  said?  I'm  the  man  who 
did  it.  I  speak  for  myself,  and  I'll  be  hanged  for 
myself." 

"All  very  good.  Bob,"  interposed  the  Alcalde ;  "but 
we  can't  hang  you  without  being  sure  you  deserve 
it    What  do  you  say  to  it,  Mr.  Whyte?    You're  the 


LYNCH  LAW.  181 

procnrador — and  you,  Mr.  Heart  and  Mr.  Stone? 
Help  yourselves  to  rum  or  brandy ;  and,  Mr.  Bright 
and  Irwin,  take  another  cigar.  They're  considerable 
tolerable  the  cigars — ain't  they?  That's  brandy, 
Mr.  Whyte,  in  the  diamond  bottle." 

Mr.  Whyte  had  got  up  to  give  his  opinion,  as  I 
thought;  but  I  was  mistaken.  He  stepped  to  the 
sideboard,  took  up  a  bottle  in  one  hand  and  a  glass 
in  the  other,  every  movement  being  performed  with 
the  greatest  deliberation. 

"Well,  Squire,"  said  ho,  "or  rather  Alcalde — " 

After  the  word  "Alcalde,"  he  filled  the  glass  half 
full  of  rum. 

'*If  it's  as  we've  heard,"  added  he,  pouring  about 
a  spoonful  of  water  on  the  mm,  "and  Bob  has  killed 
the  man" — he  continued,  throwing  in  some  lumps 
of  sugar — "murdered  him" — he  went  on,  crushing 
the  sugar  with  a  wooden  stamp — "I  rather  cal- 
kilate" — here  he  raised  the  glass  —  "Bob  ought  to 
be  hung,"  he  concluded,  putting  the  tumbler  to  his 
mouth  and  emptying  it. 

The  jm-ors  nodded  in  silence.  Bob  drew  a  deep 
breath,  as  if  a  load  were  taken  off  his  breast. 

"Well,"  said  the  judge,  who  did  not  look  over 
well  pleased,  "if  you  think  so,  and  Bob  is  agreed,  I 


182  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

calculate  we  must  do  as  he  wishes.  I  tell  you, 
though,  I  don't  do  it  willingly.  At  any  rate,  we 
must  find  the  dead  man  first,  and  examine  Johnny. 
We  owe  that  to  ourselves  and  to  Bob." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  jury  with  one  voice. 

"You  are  a  dreadful  murderer,  Bob,  a  very  con- 
siderable one,"  continued  the  judge;  "but  I  tell  you 
to  your  face,  and  not  to  flatter  you,  there  is  more 
good  in  your  little  finger  than  in  Johnny's  whole 
hide.  And  I'm  sorry  for  you,  because,  at  the  bot- 
tom, you  are  not  a  bad  man,  though  you've  been 
led  away  by  bad  company  and  example.  I  calculate 
you  might  still  be  refonned,  and  made  very  useful  — 
more  so,  perhaps,  than  you  think.  Your  rifle's  a 
capital  good  one." 

At  these  last  words  the  men  all  looked  up,  and 
threw  a  keen,  inquiring  glance  at  Bob. 

"You  might  be  of  great  service,"  continued  the 
judge  encouragingly,  "to  the  country  and  to  your 
fellow-citizens.  You're  worth  a  dozen  Mexicans  any 
day." 

While  the  judge  spoke,  Bob  let  his  head  fall  on 
liis  breast,  and  seemed  reflecting.     He  now  looked  up. 

"I  understand.  Squire;  I  see  what  you're  drivin' 
ftt.    But  I  can't  do  it— I  can't  wait  so  long.    My 


LYNCH  LAW.  183 

life's  a  burden  and  a  snfferin'  to  me.  Wherever  I 
go,  by  day  or  by  night,  he's  always  there,  standin' 
before  me,  and  drivin'  me  under  the  Patriarch." 

There  was  a  pause  of  some  duration.  The  judge 
resumed. 

"  So  be  it  then,"  said  he  with  a  sort  of  suppressed 
sigh.  "We'll  see  the  body  to-day,  Bob,  and  you  may 
come  to-morrow  at  ten  o'clock." 

"Couldn't  it  be  sooner?"  asked  Bob  impatiently. 

"Why  sooner?  Are  you  in  such  a  hurry?"  asked 
Mr.  Heart. 

"What's  the  use  of  palaverin'?"  said  Bob  sulkily. 
"I  told  you  already  I'm  sick  of  my  life.  If  you 
don't  come  till  ten  o'clock,  by  the  time  you've 
had  your  talk  out,  and  ridden  to  the  Patriarch,  the 
fever  '11  be  upon  me." 

"But  we  can't  be  flying  about  like  a  parcel  of  wild 
geese,  because  of  your  fever,"  said  the  procurador 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Bob  humbly. 

"It's  an  ugly  customer  the  fever,  though,  Mr. 
Whyte,"  observed  Mr.  Trace;  "and  I  calculate  we 
ought  to  do  him  that  pleasure.  What  do  you  think, 
Squire?" 

"I  reckon  he's  rather  indiscreet  in  his  askin's," 
said  the  judge,  in  a  tone  of  vexation.    "However, 


184  ADVENTTJEES   IN  TEXAS. 

as  he  wishes  it,  and  if  it  is  agreeable  to  you,"  added 
he,  turning  to  the  Ayuntamiento ;  "and  as  it's  you, 
Bob,  I  calculate  we  must  do  what  you  ask." 

"Thankee,"  said  Bob. 

"  I^othing  to  thank  for,"  growled  the  judge ;  "  and 
now  go  into  the  kitchen  and  get  a  good  meal  of  roast 
beef,  d'ye  hear?"  He  knocked  upon  the  table. 
"Some  good  roast  beef  for  Bob,"  said  he  to  a  negress 
who  entered;  "and  see  that  he  eats  it.  And  get 
yourself  dressed  more  decently.  Bob — like  a  white 
man  and  a  Christian,  not  like  a  wild  redskin." 

The  negress  and  Bob  left  the  room.  The  conver- 
sation now  turned  upon  Johnny,  who  appeared,  from 
all  accounts,  to  be  a  very  bad  and  dangerous  fellow ; 
and  after  a  short  discussion,  they  agreed  to  lynch 
him,  in  backwoodsman's  phrase,  just  as  coolly  as  if 
they  had  been  talking  of  catching  a  mustang.  When 
the  men  had  come  to  this  satisfactory  conclusion, 
they  got  up,  drank  the  judge's  health  and  mine, 
shook  us  by  the  hand,  and  left  the  room  and  the 
house. 

The  day  passed  more  heavily  than  the  preceding 
one.    I  was  too  engrossed  with  the  strange  scene  I 
had  witnessed  to  talk  much.    The  judge,  too,  was 
a  very  bad  humor.    He  was  vexed  that  a  man  shou 


LYNCH  LAW.  185 

be  huDg  who  might  render  the  country  much  good 
service  if  he  remained  alive.  That  Johnny,  the 
miserable,  cowardly,  treacherous  Johnny,  should  bo 
sent  out  of  the  world  as  quickly  as  possible,  was 
perfectly  correct,  but  with  Bob  it  was  very  different. 
In  vain  did  I  remind  him  of  the  crime  of  which 
Bob  had  been  guilty — of  the  outraged  laws  of  God 
and  man — and  of  the  atonement  due.  Ifc  was  of  no 
use.  If  Bob  had  sinned  against  society,  he  could 
repair  his  fault  much  better  by  remaining  alive  than 
by  being  hung ;  and  as  to  any  thing  else,  God  would 
avenge  it  in  his  own  time.  We  parted  for  the  night, 
neither  of  us  convinced  by  each  other's  arguments. 

We  were  sitting  at  breakfast  the  next  morning, 
when  a  man,  dressed  in  black,  rode  up  to  the  door. 
It  was  Bob,  but  so  metamorphosed  that  I  scarcely 
knew  him.  Instead  of  the  torn  and  bloodstained 
handkerchief  round  his  head,  he  wore  a  hat;  instead 
of  the  leathern  jacket,  a  decent  cloth  coat.  He  had 
shaved  off  his  beard  too,  and  looked  quite  another  man. 
His  manner  had  altered  with  his  dress ;  ho  seemed 
tranquil  and  resigned.  With  a  mild,  submissive  look, 
he  held  out  his  hand  to  the  judge,  who  shook  it 
heartily. 

"Ah,  Bob!"  said  he,  "if  you  had  only  listened  to 


186  ADVENTTJBES  IN  TEXAS. 

what  I  SO  often  told  you  I  I  had  those  clothes  brought 
on  purpose  from  New  Orleans,  that,  on  Sundays  at 
least,  you  might  look  like  a  decent  man.  How  often 
have  I  asked  you  to  put  them  on,  and  come  with  us 
to  meeting,  to  hear  Mr.  Bliss  preach?  There  is  some 
truth  in  the  saying,  that  the  coat  makes  the  man. 
With  his  Sunday  coat,  a  man  often  puts  on  other  and 
better  thoughts.  If  that  had  been  your  case  only 
fifty-two  times  in  the  year,  you'd  have  learned  to 
avoid  Johnny  before  now." 

Bob  said  nothing. 

"  Well,  well!  I  Ve  done  all  I  could  to  make  a  better 
man  of  you — all  that  was  in  my  power." 

"That  you  have,"  answered  Bob,  much  moved. 
"God  reward  you  for  it!" 

I  could  not  help  holding  out  my  hand  to  the  worthy 
judge ;  and  as  I  did  so,  I  thought  I  saw  a  moisture 
in  his  eye,  which  he  suppressed,  however,  and,  turn- 
ing to  the  breakfast  table,  bade  us  sit  down.  Bob 
thanked  him  humbly,  but  declined,  saying  that  he 
wished  to  appear  fasting  before  his  offended  Creator. 
The  judge  insisted,  and  reasoned  with  him,  and  at 
last  he  took  a  chair. 

Before  we  had*  done  breakfast,  our  friends  of  the 
preceding  day  began  to  drop  in,  and  some  of  them 


LYNCH   LAW.  187 
I 

joined  us  at  the  meal.  When  they  had  all  taken 
what  they  chose,  the  judge  ordered  the  negroes 
to  clear  away,  and  leave  the  room.  This  done,  he 
seated  himself  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table, 
with  the  Ayuntamiento  on  either  side,  and  Bob  facing 
him. 

"Mr.  Whyte,"  said  the  Alcalde,  "have  you,  as 
procurador,  any  thing  to  state?" 

"Yes,  Alcalde,"  replied  the  procurador.  "In  virtue 
of  my  office,  I  made  a  search  in  the  place  mentioned 
by  Bob  Rock,  and  there  found  the  body  of  a  man 
who  had  met  his  death  by  a  gunshot  wound.  I  also 
found  a  belt  full  of  money,  and  several  letters  of 
recommendation  to  different  planters,  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  man  was  on  his  way  from  Illinois  to 
San  Felipe,  to  buy  land  of  Colonel  Austin,  and  settle 
in  Texas." 

The  procurador  then  produced  a  pair  of  saddle- 
bags, out  of  which  he  took  a  leathern  belt  stuffed 
with  money,  which  he  laid  on  the  table,  together 
with  the  letters.  The  judge  opened  the  belt,  and 
counted  the  money.  It  amounted  to  upward  of  five 
hundred  dollars  in  gold  and  silver.  The  procurador 
then  read  the  letters. 

One  of  the  corregidors  now  announced  that  Johnny 


'fr- 


188  ADVENTURES  IH  TEXAS. 

and  his  mulatto  had  left  their  house  and  fled.  He, 
the  corregidor,  had  sent  the  people  in  pursuit  of 
them,  but  as  yet  there  were  no  tidings  of  their 
capture.  This  piece  of  intelligence  seemed  to  vex 
the  judge  greatly,  but  he  made  no  remark  on  it  at 
the  time. 

"BobEock!"  cried  he. 

Bob  stepped  forward. 

"Bob  Rock,  or  by  whatever  other  name  you  may 
be  known,  are  you  guilty  or  not  guilty  of  this  man's 
death!" 

"Guilty  !"  replied  Bob,  in  a  low  tone. 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  will  you  be  pleased  to  give 
your  verdict?" 

The  jury  left  the  room.  In  ten  minutes  they 
returned. 

"Guilty !  "  said  the  foreman. 

"Bob  Rock,"  said  the  judge  solemnly,  "your 
fellow-citizens  have  found  you  guilty  ;  and  I  pro- 
nounce the  sentence  —  that  you  be  hung  by  the 
neck  until  you  are  dead.  The  Lord  be  merciful  to 
your  soul ! " 

"Amen  !"  said  all  present. 

"Thank  ye,"  murmured  Bob. 

"We  will  seal  up  the  property  of  the  deceased," 


LYNCH  LAW.  189 

said  the  judge,  "and  then  proceed  to  oar  painful 
duty." 

He  called  for  a  light,  and  he  and  the  procurador 
and  corregidors  sealed  up  the  papers  and  money. 

"Has  any  one  aught  to  alledge  why  the  sentence 
should  not  be  put  into  execution  ? "  said  the  Alcalde, 
with  a  glance  at  me. 

"He  saved  my  life,  judge  and  feUow-citizens ? " 
cried  I,  deeply  moved. 

Bob  shook  his  head  mournfully. 

"  Let  us  go,  then,  in  God's  name,"  said  the  judge. 

Without  another  word  being  spoken,  we  left  the 
house  and  mounted  our  horses.  The  judge  had 
brought  a  Bible  with  him  ;  and  he  rode  on  a  little  in 
front,  with  Bob,  doing  his  best  to  prepare  him  for  the 
eternity  to  which  he  was  hastening.  Bob  listened 
attentively  for  some  time ;  but  at  last  he  seemed  to 
get  impatient,  and  pushed  his  mustang  into  so  fast  a 
trot,  that  for  a  moment  we  suspected  him  of  wishing 
to  escape  the  doom  he  had  so  eagerly  sought.  But 
it  was  only  that  he  feared  the  fever  might  return 
before  the  expiration  of  the  short  time  he  yet  had 
to  live. 

After  an  hour's  ride,  we  came  to  the  enormous  live 
oak  distinguished  as  the  Paf/riarch,    Two  or  three 


190  ADVENTUBES  IN  TEXAS. 

of  the  men  dismounted,  and  held  aside  the  heavy 
moss-covered  branches,  which  swept  the  ground  and 
formed  a  complete  curtain  round  the  tree.  The  party 
rode  through  the  opening  thus  made,  and  drew  up  in 
a  circle  beneath  the  huge  leafy  dome.  In  the  center 
of  this  ring  stood  Bob,  trembling  like  an  aspen  leaf, 
his  eyes  fixed  on  a  small  mound  of  fresh  earth, 
partly  concealed  by  the  branches,  and  which  had 
escaped  my  notice  on  my  former  visit  to  the  tree.  It 
was  the  grave  of  the  murdered  man. 

A  magnificent  burial  place  was  that :  no  poet 
could  have  dreamed  or  desired  a  better.  Above, 
the  huge  vault,  with  its  natural  frettings  and  arches ; 
below,  the  greenest,  freshest  grass  ;  around,  an  eter- 
nal half  light,  streaked  and  varied,  and  radiant  as  a 
rainbow.    It  was  imposingly  beautiful. 

Bob,  the  judge,  and  the  corregidors,  remained  sit- 
ting on  their  horses,  but  several  of  the  other  men 
dismounted.  One  of  the  latter  cut  the  lasso  from 
Bob's  saddle,  and  threw  an  end  of  it  over  one  of  the 
lowermost  branches;  then  uniting  the  two  ends, 
formed  them  into  a  strong  noose,  which  he  left 
dangling  from  the  bough.  This  simple  preparation 
completed,  the  Alcalde  took  ofi*  his  hat  and  folded 
his  hands.    The  others  followed  his  example. 


LYNCH  LAW.  191 

"Bob!"  said  the  judge  to  the  unfortunate  criminal, 
whose  head  was  bowed  on  his  horse's  mane;  "Bob! 
we  will  pray  for  your  poor  soul,  which  is  about  to 
part  from  your  sinful  body." 

Bob  raised  his  head.  "I  had  something  to  say" 
exclaimed  he,  in  a  wandering  and  husky  tone 
"  Something  I  wanted  to  say." 

"What  have  you  to  say?" 

Bob  stared  around  him;  his  lips  mored,  but  no 
word  escaped  him.  His  spirit  was  evidently  no 
longer  with  things  of  this  earth. 

"Bob!"  said  the  judge  again,  "we  will  pray  for 
your  soul." 

"Pray!  pray!"  groaned  he.     "I  shall  need  it." 

In  slow  and  solemn  accents,  and  with  great  feeling, 
the  judge  uttered  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Bob  repeated 
every  word  after  him.  When  it  was  ended  —  "  May 
God  be  merciful  to  his  soul ! "  exclaimed  the  judge. 

"Amen  !"  said  all  present. 

One  of  the  corregidors  now  passed  the  noose  of 
the  lasso  round  Bob's  neck,  another  bound  his  eyes, 
a  third  person  drew  his  feet  out  of  the  stirrups,  while 
a  fourth  stepped  behind  his  horse  with  a  heavy 
riding-wliip.  All  was  done  in  the  deepest  silence; 
not  a  word  was  breathed,  nor  a  foot-fall  heard  on  the 


192  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

soft,  yielding  tui-f.  There  was  something  awful  and 
oppressive  in  the  profound  stillness  that  reigned  in 
the  vast  inclosure. 

The  whip  fell.  The  horse  gave  a  spring  forward. 
At  the  same  moment  Bob  made  a  desperate  clutch  at 
the  bridle,  and  a  loud  "Hold!"  burst  in  thrilling 
tones  from  the  lips  of  the  judge. 

It  was  too  late ;  Bob  was  already  hanging.  The 
judge  pushed  forward,  nearly  riding  down  the  man 
who  held  the  whip,  and  seizing  Bob  in  his  arms, 
raised  him  on  his  own  horse,  supporting  him  with  one 
hand,  while  with  the  other  he  strove  to  unfasten  the 
noose.  His  whole  gigantic  frame  trembled  with 
eagerness  and  exertion.  The  procurador,  corregi- 
dors — all,  in  short,  stood  in  open-mouthed  wonder  at 
this  strange  proceeding. 

"  Whisky  !  whisky  !  Has  nobody  any  whisky  I " 
shouted  the  judge. 

One  of  the  men  sprang  forward  with  a  whisky- 
flask,  another  supported  the  body,  and  a  third  the 
teet  of  the  half-hanged  man,  while  the  judge  poured 
a  few  drops  of  spirits  into  his  mouth.  The  cravat, 
which  had  not  been  taken  off,  had  hindered  the 
breaking  of  the  neck.  Bob  at  last  opened  his  eyes, 
and  gazed  vacantly  around  him. 


LTNCH  LAW. 

"Bob,"  said  the  judge,  "you  had  something  to  say, 
had  n't  you,  about  Johnny?" 

"Johnny,"  gasped  Bob,  "Johnny." 

"What 's  become  of  him?" 

"He's  gone  to  San  Antonio,  Johnny." 

"To  San  Antonio!"  repeated  the  judge,  with  an 
expression  of  great  alarm  overspreading  his  features. 

"To  San  Antonio — to  Padre  Jo86,"  continued 
Bob  ;  "a  Catholic.     Beware! " 

"A  traitor,  then!"  muttered  several. 

"  Catholic  ! "  exclaimed  the  judge.  The  words  he 
had  heard  seemed  to  deprive  him  of  all  strength. 
His  arms  fell  slowly  and  gradually  by  his  side,  and 
Bob  was  again  hanging  from  the  lasso. 

"A  Catholic!  a  traitor!  repeated  several  of  the 
men ;  "  a  citizen  and  a  traitor ! " 

"So  it  is  men!"  exclaimed  the  judge.  "We've  no 
time  to  lose,"  continued  he,  in  a  harsh,  hurried  voice; 
"no  time  to  lose  ;  we  must  catch  him." 

"That  must  we,"  said  several,  "or  our  plans  are 
betrayed  to  the  Mexicans." 

"After  him  immediately  to  San  Antonio!"  cried 
the  judge,  with  the  same  desperately  hurried  manner. 

"To  San  Antonio!"  repeated  the  men,  pushing 
their  way  through  the  curtain  of  moss  and  branches. 

9 


194  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

As  soon  as  they  were  outside,  those  who  were  dis- 
mounted sprang  into  the  saddle,  and,  without  another 
word,  the  whole  party  galloped  away  in  the  direction 
of  San  Antonio. 

The  judge  alone  remained,  seemingly  lost  in 
thought ;  his  countenance  pale  and  anxious,  and  his 
eyes  following  the  riders.  His  reverie,  however,  had 
lasted  but  a  very  few  seconds,  when  he  seized  my 
arm. 

"Hasten  to  my  house !"  cried  he;  "lose  no  time; 
don't  spare  horse-flesh.  Take  Ptoly  and  a  fresh 
beast ;  hurry  over  to  San  Felipe,  and  tell  Stephen 
Austin  what  has  happened,  and  what  you  have  seen 
and  heard." 

"But,  judge " 

"Off  with  you  at  once,  if  you  would  serve  and 
save  Texas.    Bring  my  wife  and  daughter  back." 

And  so  saying,  he  literally  drove  me  from  under 
the  tree,  pushing  me  out  with  both  hands.  I  was  so 
startled  at  the  expression  of  violent  impatience  and 
anxiety  which  his  features  assumed,  that,  without 
venturing  to  make  further  objection,  I  struck  the 
spurs  into  my  mustang  and  galloped  off. 

Before  I  had  got  fifty  yards  from  the  tree,  I  looked 
round  :  the  judge  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 


LYNCH  LAW.  195 

I  rode  full  speed  to  the  judge's  house,  and  thence 
on  a  fresh  horse  to  San  Felipe,  where  I  found  Colonel 
Austin,  who  seemed  much  alarmed  by  the  news  I 
brought  him,  had  horses  saddled,  and  sent  round  to 
all  the  neighbors.  Before  the  wife  and  step-daughter 
of  the  judge  had  raade  their  preparations  to  accom- 
pany me  home,  he  and  fifty  armed  men  rode  off  in 
the  direction  of  San  Antonio. 

I  escorted  the  ladies  to  their  house,  but  scarcely 
had  we  arrived  there,  when  I  was  seized  with  a  fever, 
the  result  of  my  recent  fatigues  and  sufferings.  For 
some  days  my  life  was  in  danger,  but  a  good  consti- 
tution, and  the  kindest  and  most  watchful  nursing, 
triumphed  over  the  disease.  As  soon  as  I  was  able 
to  mount  a  horse,  I  set  out  for  Mr.  Neal's  plantation, 
in  company  with  his  huntsman  Anthony,  who,  after 
spending  many  days,  and  riding  over  hundreds  of 
miles  of  ground  in  quest  of  me,  had  at  last  found 
me  out. 

Our  way  led  past  the  Patriarch ;  and,  as  we  ap- 
proached it,  we  saw  innumerable  birds  of  prey  and 
carrion-crows  circling  round  it,  croaking  and  scream- 
ing. I  turned  my  eyes  in  another  direction;  but, 
nevertheless,  I  felt  a  strange  sort  of  longing  to  revisit 
the  tree.    Anthony  had  ridden  on,  and  was  already 


196  ADVENTUKES  IN  TEXAS. 

hidden  from  view  behind  its  branches.  Presently  I 
heard  him  give  a  loud  shout  of  exultation.  I  jumped 
off  jny  horse,  and  led  it  through  a  small  opening  in 
the  leafage. 

Some  forty  paces  from  me,  the  body  of  a  man  was 
hanging  by  a  lasso  from  the  very  same  branch  on 
which  Bob  had  been  hung.  It  was  not  Bob,  however, 
for  the  corpse  was  much  too  short  and  small  for  him. 

I  drew  nearer.  "  Johnny !"  1  exclaimed.  "That's 
Johnny  I " 

"It  -MJa^,"  answered  Anthony.  "Thank  Heaven, 
there's  an  end  of  him!" 

I  shuddered.    "  But  where  is  Bob  ? " 

"  Bob  ? "  cried  Anthony.    "  Bob ! " 

I  glanced  at  the  grave.  The  mound  of  earth 
seemed  larger  and  higher  than  when  I  had  last  seen 
it.    Doubtless  the  murderer  lay  beside  his  victim. 

"Shall  we  not  render  the  last  service  to  this  wretch, 
Anthony?"  asked  I. 

"The  scoundrel!"  answered  the  huntsman.  "I 
won't  dirty  my  hands  with  him.  Let  him  poison 
the  kites  and  the  crows!" 

We  rode  on. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

TWENTY  TO   ONE. 

I  HAD  been  but  three  or  four  months  in  Texas, 
when,  in  consequence  of  the  oppressive  conduct  of 
the  Mexican  military  authorities,  symptoms  of  dis- 
content showed  themselves,  and  several  skirmishes 
occurred  between  the  American  settlers  and  the 
soldiery.  The  two  small  forts  of  Yelasco  and  JS"acog- 
doches  were  taken  by  the  former,  and  their  garrisons 
and  a  couple  of  field-officers  made  prisoners;  soon 
after  which,  however,  the  quarrel  was  made  up  by 
the  intervention  of  Colonel  Austin  on  the  part  of 
Texas,  and  Colonel  Mejia  on  the  part  of  the  Mexican 
authorities. 

But  in  the  year  '33,  occurred  Santa  Anna's  defec- 
tion from  the  liberal  party,  and  the  imprisonment 
of  Stephen  F.  Austin,  the  Texan  representative  in 
the  Mexican  congress,  by  the  vice-president,  Gomez 
Farias.    This  was  followed  by  Texas  adopting  the 


198  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

constitution  of  1824,  and  declaring  itself  an  indepen- 
dent state  of  the  Mexican  republic.  Finally,  toward 
the  close  of  1835,  Texas  threw  off  the  Mexican  yoke 
altogether,  voted  itself  a  free  and  sovereign  republic, 
and  prepared  to  defend  by  arms,  its  newly  asserted 
liberty. 

The  first  step  to  be  taken  was,  to  secure  our 
communications  with  the  United  States  by  getting 
possession  of  the  sea-ports.  General  Cos  had  occu- 
pied Galveston  harbor,  and  built  and  garrisoned  a 
block-fort,  nominally  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
the  custom  laws,  but  in  reality  with  a  view  to  cut 
off  our  communications  with  New  Orleans  and  the 
States.  This  fort  it  was  necessary  to  get  posses- 
sion of,  and  my  friend  Fanning  and  myself  were  ap- 
pointed to  that  duty  by  the  Alcalde,  who  had  taken 
ft  prominent  part  in  all  that  had  occurred. 

Our  whole  force  and  equipment  wherewith  t^ 
accomplish  this  enterprise  consisted  in  a  sealed 
dispatch,  to  be  opened  at  the  town  of  Columbia,  and 
a  half-breed,  named  Agostino,  who  acted  as  our 
guide.  On  reaching  Columbia,  we  called  together 
the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  place,  and  of  the 
neighboring  towns  of  Bolivar  and  Marion,  unsealed 
the  letter  in  their  presence,  and  six  hours  afterward 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  199 

the  forces  therein  specified  were  assembled,  and  we 
were  on  our  march  toward  Galveston.  The  next 
day  the  fort  was  taken,  and  the  garrison  made 
prisoners,  without  our  losing  a  single  man.    .^-'— . 

We  sent  oiF  our  guide  to  the  government  at  San 
Felipe  with  the  news  of  our  success.  In  nine  days 
he  returned,  bringing  us  the  thanks  of  congress  and 
fresh  orders.  We  were  to  leave  a  garrison  in  the 
fort,  and  then  ascend  Trinity  Kiver,  and  march 
toward  San  Antonio  de  Bexar.  This  route  was  all 
the  more  agreeable  to  Fanning  and  myself,  as  it 
would  bring  us  into  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
haciendas^  or  estates,  of  which  we  had  some  time 
previously  obtained  a  grant  from  the  Texan  govern- 
ment ;  and  we  did  not  doubt  that  we  were  indebted 
to  our  friend  the  Alcalde  for  the  orders  which  thus 
conciliated  our  private  convenience  with  our  public 
duty. 

As  we  marched  along,  we  found  the  whole  country 
in  commotion,  the  settlers  all  arming,  and  hastening 
to  the  distant  place  of  rendezvous.  We  amved  at 
Trinity  Kiver  one  afternoon,  and  immediately  sent 
messengers  for  forty  miles  in  all  directions  to  sum- 
mon the  inhabitants.  At  the  period  in  question, 
the  plantations  in   that  part  of   the   country  were 


200  ADYENTUEES  m  TEXAS. 

very  few  and  far  between,  but,  nevertheless,  by  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day,  we  had  got  together  &ur- 
and-thirty  men,  mounted  on  mustangs,  each  equipped 
with  rifle  and  bowie-knife,  powder-horn  and  bullet-bag, 
and  furnished  with  provisions  for  several  days.  With 
these  we  started  for  San  Antonio  de  Bexar,  a  march 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  through  trackless 
prairies  intersected  with  rivers  and  streams,  which, 
although  not  quite  so  big  as  the  Mississippi  or  Poto- 
mac, were  yet  deep  and  wide  enough  to  offer  serious 
impediment  to  regular  armies.  But  to  Texan  farm- 
ers and  backwoodsmen  they  were  trifling  obstacles. 
Those  we  could  not  wade  through  we  swam  across ; 
and  in  due  time,  and  without  any  incident  worthy 
of  note,  reached  the  appointed  place  of  rendezvous, 
which  was  on  the  river  Salado,  about  fifteen  miles 
fi'om  San  Antonio,  the  principal  city  of  the  province. 
This  latter  place  it  was  intended  to  attack — an  enter- 
prise of  some  boldness  and  risk,  considering  that 
the  town  was  protected  by  a  strong  fort,  amply 
provided  with  heavy  artillery,  and  had  a  garrison 
of  nearly  three  thousand  men,  most  of  whose  oflS- 
cers  had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  revolution- 
ary wars  against  the  Sj^aniards.  Our  whole  army, 
which  we  found  encamped  on  the  Salado,  under  tli© 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  201 

command  of  General  Austin,  did  not  exceed  eight 
hundred  men. 

The  day  after  that  on  which  Fanning  and  myself, 
with  our  four-and-thirty  recruits,  reached  head-qnar- 
ters,  a  council  of  war  was  held,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  advance  as  far  as  the  mission  of  Santa  Espada. 
The  advanced  guard  was  to  push  forward  immedi- 
ately; the  main  body  would  follow  the  next  day. 
Fanning  and  myself  were  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  vanguard,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Wharton, 
a  wealthy  planter,  who  had  brought  a  strong  party 
of  volunteers  with  him,  and  whose  mature  age  and 
cool  judgment,  it  was  thought,  would  counterbalance 
any  excess  of  youthful  heat  and  impetuosity  on  our 
part.  Selecting  ninety-two  men  out  of  the  eight 
hundred,  who,  to  a  man,  volunteered  to  accompany 
us,  we  set  out  for  the  mission. 

These  missions  are  a  sort  of  picket-houses  or  out- 
posts of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  are  found  in  great 
numbers  in  all  the  frontier  provinces  of  Spanish 
America,  especially  in  Texas,  Santa  Fe,  and  Cohahu- 
ila.  They  are  usually  of  sufficient  strength  to  afford 
their  inmates  security  against  any  predatory  party 
of  Indians  or  other  marauders,  and  are  occupied  by 

priests,  who,  while  using  their  endeavors  to  spread 
9* 


202  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Home,  act  also  as 
spies  and  agents  of  the  Mexican  government. 

On  reaching  Santa  Espada  we  held  a  discussion 
as  to  the  propriety  of  remaining  there  until  the 
general  came  up,  or  of  advancing  at  once  toward 
the  river.  "Wharton  inclined  to  the  former  plan,  and 
it  was  certainly  the  most  prudent,  for  the  mission 
was  a  strong  building,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall, 
and  might  have  been  held  against  very  superior 
numbers.  Fanning  and  I,  however,  did  not  like  the 
idea  of  being  cooped  up  in .  a  house,  and  at  last 
"Wharton  yielded.  "We  left  our  horses  and  mustangs 
in  charge  of  eight  men,  and  with  the  remainder  set 
out  in  the  direction  of  the  Salad o,  which  flows  from 
north  to  south,  a  third  of  a  mile  to  the  westward  of 
the  mission.  About  half-way  between  the  latter  and 
the  river  was  a  small  group,  or  island,  of  muskeet 
trees,  the  only  object  that  broke  the  uniformity  of 
the  prairie.  The  bank  of  the  river  on  our  side  was 
tolerably  steep,  about  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  hol- 
lowed out  here  and  there,  and  covered  with  a  thick 
network  of  wild  vines.  The  Salado  at  this  spot 
describes  a  sort  of  bower-shaped  curve,  with  a  foi-d 
at  either  end,  by  which  alone  the  river  can  be  passed  ; 
for  although  not  very  broad,  it  is  rapid   and   deep. 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  203 

We  resolved  to  take  up  a  position  witbin  this  bow, 
calculating  tbat  we  might  manage  to  defend  the  two 
fords,  which  were  not  above  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart. 

At  the  same  time  we  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  dan- 
gers of  such  a  position,  and  of  the  almost  certainty 
that,  if  the  enemy  managed  to  cross  the  river,  we 
should  be  surrounded  and  cut  off.  But  our  success 
on  the  few  occasions  on  which  we  had  hitherto  come 
to  blows  with  the  Mexicans,  at  Yelasco,  ^N'acogdoches, 
and  Galveston,  had  inspired  us  with  so  much  con- 
fidence that  we  considered  ourselves  a  match  for 
thousands  of  such  foes,  and  actually  began  to  wish 
the  enemy  would  attack  us  before  our  main  body 
came  up.  We  reconnoitered  the  ground,  stationed  a 
picket  of  twelve  men  at  each  ford,  and  an  equal 
number  in  the  island  of  muskeet  trees,  and  established 
ourselves  with  the  remainder  among  the  vines  and 
in  the  hollows  on  the  river  bank. 

The  commvissariat  department  of  the  Texan  army 
was,  as  may  be  supposed,  not  yet  placed  upon  any 
very  regular  footing.  In  fact,  every  man  was,  for 
the  present,  his  own  commissary-general.  Finding 
our  stock  of  provisions  very  small,  we  sent  out  a 
party  of  foragers,  who  soon  returned  with  three  sheep, 
which  they  bad  taken  from  a  rancho^  within  a  mile 


204:  ADVENTUBES  IN  TEXAS. 

of  San  Antonio.  An  old  priest,  whom  they  found 
there,  had  threatened  them  with  the  anger  of  Heaven 
and  of  General  Cos ;  but  they  paid  little  attention 
to  his  denunciations,  and,  throwing  down  three  dol- 
lars, walked  off  with  the  sheep.  The  priest  was 
furious,  got  upon  his  mule,  and  trotted  away  in  the 
direction  of  the  city  to  complain  to  General  Cos  of 
the  misconduct  of  the  heretics. 

After  this  we  made  no  doubt  that  we  should  soon 
have  a  visit  from  the  Dons.  Nevertheless,  the  evening 
and  the  night  passed  away  without  incident.  Day 
broke — still  no  signs  of  the  Mexicans.  This  treach- 
erous calm,  we  thought,  might  forbode  a  storm,  and 
we  did  not  allow  it  to  lull  us  into  security.  We  let 
the  men  get  their  breakfast,  which  they  had  hardly 
finished  when  the  picket  from  the  upper  ford  came 
in  with  the  news  that  a  strong  body  of  cavalry  was 
approaching  the  river,  and  that  their  vanguard  was 
already  in  the  hollow  way  leading  to  the  ford.  We 
had  scarcely  received  this  intelligence  when  we  heard 
the  blare  of  the  trumpets,  and  the  next  moment  we 
saw  the  officers  push  their  horses  up  the  declivitous 
bank,  closely  followed  by  their  men,  whom  they 
formed  up  in  the  prairie.  We  counted  six  small 
squadrons,  about  three  hundred  men  in  all.    They 


TWENTY   TO   ONE.  205 

were  the  Durango  dragoons — smart  troops  euonsrli 
to  all  appearance,  capitally  mounted  and  equipped, 
and  armed  with  carbines  and  sabers. 

Although  the  enemy  had  doubtless  reconnoitered 
us  from  the  opposite  shore,  and  ascertained  our  posi- 
tion, he  could  not  form  any  accurate  idea  of  our 
numbers,  for,  with  a  view  to  deceive  him,  we  kept 
the  men  in  constant  motion,  sometimes  showing  a 
part  of  them  on  the  prairie,  then  causing  them  to 
disappear  again  behind  the  vines  and  bushes.  This 
was  all  very  knowing  for  young  soldiers  as  we  were ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  had  committed  a  grievous 
error,  and  sinned  against  all  established  military 
rules,  by  not  placing  a  picket  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  river,  to  warn  us  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
and  the  direction  in  which  he  was  coming.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  if  we  had  had  earlier  notice 
of  their  approach,  thirty  or  forty  good  marksmen — 
and  all  our  people  were  that — might  not  only  have 
delayed  the  advance  of  the  Mexicans,  but  perhaps 
even  totally  disgusted  them  of  their  attempt  to  cross 
the  Salado.  The  hollow  way  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  leading  to  the  ford,  was  narrow  and  tolerably 
steep,  and  the  bank  at  least  six  times  as  high  as  on 
our  side.    Nothing  would  have  been  easier  than  to 


206  ADVENTURES.  IN  TEXAS. 

have  so  stationed  a  party  as  to  pick  off  the  cavalry 
while  winding  through  this  sort  of  pass,  and  emerg- 
ing two  by  two  upon  the  shore.  Our  error,  however, 
did  not  strike  us  till  it  was  too  late  to  repair  it ;  so  we 
were  fain  to  console  ourselves  with  the  reflection  that 
the  Mexicans  would  be  much  more  likely  to  attribute 
our  negligence  to  an  excess  of  confidence  in  our 
resources,  than  to  inexperience  in  military  matters, 
which  was  its  real  cause.  We  resolved  to  do  our 
best  to  merit  the  good  opinion  which  we  thus  sup- 
posed them  to  entertain  of  us. 

When  the  whole  of  the  dragoons  had  crossed  the 
water,  they  marched  on  for  a  short  distance  in  an 
easterly  direction;  then,  wheeling  to  the  right,  pro- 
ceeded southward,  until  within  some  "^ve  hundred 
paces  of  us,  where  they  halted.  In  this  position,  the 
line  of  cavalry  formed  the  chord  of  the  arc  described 
by  the  river  and  occupied  by  us. 

As  soon  as  they  halted,  they  opened  their  fire, 
although  they  could  not  see  one  of  us,  for  we  were 
completely  sheltered  by  the  bank.  Our  Mexican 
heroes,  however,  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  be 
within  sight  or  range  of  their  opponents  before  firing, 
for  they  gave  us  a  rattling  volley  at  a  distance  which 
no  carbine  would  carry.    This  done,  others  galloped 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  207 

on  for  about  a  hundred  yards,  halted  again,  loaded, 
fired  another  volley,  and  then  giving  another  volley, 
fired  again.  They  continued  this  work  till  they 
found  themselves  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  paces 
of  us,  and  then  appeared  inclined  to  take  a  little 
time  for  reflection. 

We  kept  ourselves  perfectly  still.  The  dragoons 
evidently  did  not  like  the  aspect  of  matters.  Our 
remaining  concealed,  and  not  replying  to  their  tire, 
bothered  them.  We  saw  the  officers  taking  a  deal  of 
pains  to  encourage  their  men,  and  at  last  two  squad- 
rons advanced,  the  others  following  more  slowly,  a 
short  distance  in  the  rear.  This  was  the  moment  we 
had  waited  for.  No  sooner  had  the  dragoons  got 
into  a  canter,  than  six  of  our  men,  who  had  received 
orders  to  that  efiect,  sprang  up  the  bank,  took  steady 
aim  at  tiie  officers,  fired,  and  then  jumped  down 
again. 

As  we  expected,  the  small  numbers  that  had  shown 
themselves  encouraged  the  Mexicans  to  advance. 
They  at  first  seemed  taken  rather  aback  by  the  fall 
of  four  of  their  officers;  but  nevertheless,  after  a 
moment's  hesitation,  they  came  thundering  along 
full  speed.  They  were  within  sixty  or  seventy  yards 
of  us,   when  Fanning  and    thirty   of  our  riflemen 


208  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

ascended  the  bank,  and  with  a  coolness  and  precision 
that  would  have  done  credit  to  the  most  veteran 
troops,  poured  a  steady  fire  into  the  ranks  of  the 
dragoons. 

It  requires  some  nerve  and  courage  for  men  who 
have  never  gone  through  any  regular  military  train- 
ing, to  stand  their  ground,  singly  and  unprotected, 
within  fifty  yards  of  an  advancing  line  of  cavalry. 
Our  fellows  did  it,  however,  and  fired,  not  all  at 
once,  or  in  a  hurry,  but  slowly  and  deliberately  —  a 
running  fire,  every  shot  of  which  told.  Saddle  after 
saddle  was  emptied ;  the  men,  as  they  had  been 
ordered,  always  picking  out  the  foremost  horsemen,* 
and  as  soon  as  they  had  fired,  jumping  down  the 
bank  to  reload.  When  the  whole  of  the  thirty  men 
had  discharged  their  rifles,  Wharton  and  myself, 
with  the  reserve  of  six-and-thirty  more,  took  their 
places ;  but  the  dragoons  had  had  almost  enough 
already,  and  we  had  scarcely  fired  ten  shots  when 
they  executed  a  right-about  turn,  with  a  uniformity 
and  rapidity  which  did  infinite  credit  to  their  drill, 
and  went  oflF  at  a  pace  that  soon  carried  them  out  of 
the  reach  of  our  bullets.  They  had  evidently  not 
expected  so  warm  a  reception.  We  saw  their  oflScers 
doing  every  thing  they  could  to  check  their  flight, 


TWENTY  TO   UNE.  209 

imploring,  threatening,  even  cutting  at  them  with 
their  sabers,  but  it  was  all  of  no  use  ;  if  they  were 
to  be  killed,  it  must  be  in  their  own  way,  and  they 
preferred  being  cut  down  by  their  officers  to  encoun- 
tering the  deadly  precision  of  rifles,  in  the  hands  of 
men  who,  being  sure  of  hitting  a  squirrel  at  a  hun- 
dred yards,  were  not  likely  to  miss  a  Durango  dra- 
goon at  any  point  within  range. 

Our  object  in  ordering  the  men  to  fire  slowly  was, 
always  to  have  thirty  or  forty  rifles  loaded,  wherewith 
to  receive  the  enemy  should  he  attempt  a  general 
charge.  But  our  firet  greeting  had  been  a  sickener, 
and  it  appeared  doubtful  whether  he  would  venture 
to  attack  us  again,  although  the  officers  did  every 
thing  in  their  power  to  induce  theii  men  to  advance. 
For  a  long  time,  neither  threats,  enireaties,  nor  re- 
proaches produced  any  efiect.  We  saw  the  officers 
gesticulating  furiously,  pointing  to  us  with  their 
sabers,  and  impatiently  spurring  their  horses,  till 
the  fiery  animals  plunged  and  reared,  and  sprang 
with  all  four  feet  from  the  ground.  It  is  only  just  to 
say,  that  the  officers  exhibited  a  degree  of  courage 
far  beyond  any  thing  we  had  expected  from  them. 
Of  the  two  squadrons  that  charged  us,  two-thirds  of 
the   officers   had   fallen ;   but  those   who  remained, 


210  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

instead  of  appearing  intimidated  by  their  comrades' 
fate,  redoubled  their  efforts  to  bring  their  men 
forward. 

At  last  there  appeared  some  probability  of  their 
accomplishing  this,  after  a  curious  and  truly  Mexican 
fashion.  Posting  themselves  in  front  of  their  squad- 
rons, they  rode  on  alone  for  a  hundred  yards  or  so, 
halted,  looked  round,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  You  see 
there  is  no  danger  as  far  as  this,"  and  then,  galloj)ing 
back,  led  their  men  on.  Each  time  that  they  exe- 
cuted this  maneuver,  the  dragoons  would  advance 
slowly  some  thirty  or  forty  paces,  and  then  halt  as 
simultaneously  as  if  the  word  of  command  had  been 
given.  Off  went  the  officers  again  some  distance  to 
the  front,  and  th^n  back  again  to  their  men,  and  got 
them  on  a  little  farther.  In  this  manner  these  heroes 
were  inveigled  once  more  to  within  a  hundred  and 
^fty  yards  of  our  position. 

Of  course,  at  each  of  the  numerous  halts  which 
they  made  during  their  advance,  they  favored  us 
with  a  general  but  most  innocuous  discharge  of  tlieir 
carbines ;  and  at  last,  gaining  confidence,  I  suppose, 
from  our  passiveness,  and  from  the  noise  and  smoke 
they  themselves  had  made,  three  squadrons,  which 
had  not  yet  been  under  fire,  formed  open  column  and 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  211 

advanced  at  a  trot.  Without  giving  them  time  to 
halt  or  reflect — "Forward I  Charge!"  shouted  the 
officers,  urging  their  own  horses  to  their  utmost 
speed ;  and  following  the  impulse  thus  given,  the 
three  squadrons  came  charging  furiously  along. 

Up  sprang  thirty   of  our  men   to  receive   them. 
Their  orders  were  to  fire  slowly,  and  not  throw  away 
a  «liot,  but  the  gleaming  sabers  and  rapid  approach 
of  the  dragoons  flurried   some  of  them,  and,  firing 
a  hasty  volley,  they  jumped  down  the  bank  again. 
This  precipitation  had  nearly  been  fatal  to  us.    Sev- 
eral of  the  dragoons  fell,  and  there  was  some  confu- 
sion and  a  momentary  faltering  among  the  others ; 
but  they  still  came  on.    At  this   critical  moment, 
Wharton  and  myself,  with  the  reserve,  showed  our- 
selves on  the  bank.     "Slow  and   sure — mark  your 
men  I "  shouted  we  both,  Wliarton  on  the  right  and 
I  on  the  left.    The  command  was  obeyed  ;  rifle  after 
rifle  cracked   off,  always  aimed   at  the  foremost  of 
the   dragoons,   and    at  every  report  a  saddle   was 
emptied.    Before  we  had    all    fired,  Tanning  and 
a  dozen  of  his  smartest  men  had  again  loaded,  and 
were  by  our  side.    For  nearly  a  minute  the  Mexicans 
paused,  as  if  stupefied  by  our  murderous  fire,  and 
uncertain  whether    to    advance  or  retire;    but    as 


212  ADVENTUEES   IN  TEXAS. 

those  who  attempted  the  lormer  were  invariably 
shot  down,  they  at  last  began  a  retreat,  which  was 
soon  converted  into  a  rout.  "We  gave  them  a  fare- 
well volley,  which  eased  a  few  more  horses  of  their 
riders,  and  then  got  under  cover  again,  to  await 
what  might  next  occur. 

But  the  Mexican  caballeros  had  no  notion  of  com- 
ing to  the  scratch  a  third  time.  They  kept  patrolling 
about  some  three  or  four  hundred  yards  off,  and 
firing  volleys  at  us,  which  they  were  able  to  do  with 
perfect  impunity,  as  at  that  distance  we  did  not 
think  proper  to  return  a  shot. 

The  skirmish  had  lasted  nearly  three  quarters  of 
an  hour.  Strange  to  say,  we  had  not  had  a  single 
man  wounded,  although  at  times  the  bullets  had 
fallen  about  us  as  thick  as  hail.  We  could  not  ac- 
count for  this.  Many  of  us  had  been  hit  by  the 
balls,  but  a  bruise  or  a  graze  of  the  skin  were  the 
worst  consequences.  We  were  in  a  fair  way  to  deem 
ourselves  invulnerable. 

We  began  to  think  the  fight  over  for  the  day, 
when  our  vedettes  at  the  lower  ford  brous^ht  us  the 
somewhat  unpleasant  intelligence  that  large  masses 
of  infantry  were  approaching  the  river,  and  would 
Boon  be  in  sight.    The  words  Were  hardly  uttered, 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  213 

when  the  roll  of  drums  and  the  shrill  squeak  of  the 
fife  were  audible,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  head  of 
the  column  of  infantry,  having  crossed  the  ford,  as- 
cended the  sloping  bank,  and  defiled  in  the  prairie 
opposite  the  island  of  muskeet  trees.  As  company 
after  company  appeared,  we  were  able  to  form  a 
pretty  exact  estimate  of  their  numbers.  There  were 
two  battalions,  together  about  a  thousand  men  ;  and 
they  brought  a  field-piece  with  them. 

These  were  certainly  rather  long  odds  to  be  op- 
posed to  seventy-two  men  and  three  officers;  for  it 
must  be  remembered  that  we  had  left  eight  of  our 
people  at  the  mission,  and  twelve  in  the  island  of 
trees.  Two  battalions  of  infantry,  and  six  squadrons 
of  dragoons — the  latter,  to  be  sure,  disheartened 
and  diminished  by  the  loss  of  some  fifty  men,  but 
nevertheless  formidable  opponents,  now  that  they 
were  supported  by  the  foot  soldiers.  About  twenty 
Mexicans  to  each  of  us.  It  was  getting  past  a  joke. 
We  were  aU  capital  shots,  and  most  of  us,  besides 
our  rifles,  had  a  brace  of  pistols  in  our  belts ;  but 
what  were  seventy-five  rifles,  and  five  or  six  score 
pistols,  against  a  thousand  muskets  and  bayonets, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dragoons,  and  a  field-piece 
loaded  with  canister  ?    If  the  Mexicans  had  a  spark 


214  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

of  courage  or  soldiership  about  them,  our  fate  was 
sealed.  But  it  was  exactly  this  courage  and  soldier- 
ship which  we  made  sure  would  be  wanting. 

Nevertheless  we,  the  officers,  could  not  repress  a 
feeling  of  anxiety  and  self-reproach,  when  we  re- 
flected that  we  had  brought  our  comrades  into  such 
a  hazardous  predicament.  But  on  looking  around 
us,  our  apprehensions  vanished.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  perfect  coolness  and  confidence  with 
which  the  men  were  cleaning  and  preparing  their 
rifles  for  the  approaching  conflict ;  no  bravado — no 
boasting,  talking  or  laughing,  but  a  calm  decision  of 
manner,  which  at  once  told  us  that,  if  it  were  possi- 
ble to  overcome  such  odds  as  were  brought  against 
us,  those  were  the  men  to  do  it. 

Our  arrangements  for  the  approaching  struggle 
were  soon  completed.  Fanning  and  Wharton  were 
to  make  head  against  the  infantry  and  cavalry.  I 
was  to  capture  the  field-piece — an  eight-pounder. 

This  gun  was  placed  by  the  Mexicans  upon  their 
extreme  left,  close  to  the  river,  the  shores  of  which 
it  commanded  for  a  considerable  distance.  The 
bank  along  which  we  were  posted  was,  as  before 
mentioned,  indented  by  caves  and  hollows,  and 
covered  with  a  thick  tapestry  of  vines  and  other 


TWENTT  TO  ONE.  21B 

plants,  very  usfiil  in  concealing  us  from  the  artillery- 
men. The  latter  made  a  pretty  good  gu€ss  at  our 
position,  however,  and  at  the  first  -discharge  the 
canister  whizzed  past  us  at  a  very  short  distance. 
There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose,  for  on«  well-directed 
shot  might  exterminate  half  of  us.  Followed  by  a 
dozen  men,  I  worked  my  way  as  well  as  I  could 
through  the  labyrinth  of  vines  and  bushes,  and  was 
not  more  than  fifty  yards  from  the  gun,  when  it  was 
again  fired.  No  one  was  hurt,  although  the  shot  was 
evidently  intended  for  my  party.  The  enemy  could 
not  see  us ;  but  the  motion  of  the  vines,  as  we  passed 
through  them,  had  betrayed  our  wherealxmts:  so, 
perceiving  we  were  discovered,  I  sprang  up  the  bank 
into  the  prairie,  followed  by  my  men,  to  whom  I 
shouted  to  be  sure  and  aim  at  the  artillerymen. 

I  had  raised  my  own  rifle  to  my  shoulder,  when 
I  let  it  fall  again  in  astonishment  at  an  apparition 
that  presented  itself  to  my  view.  It  was  a  tall,  lean, 
wild  figure,  with  a  face  overgrown  by  a  long  beard 
that  hung  down  upon  his  breast,  and  dressed  in  a 
leather  cap,  jacket,  and  moccasins.  Where  this  man 
had  sprung  from  was  a  perfect  riddle.  He  was. 
unknown  to  any  of  us,  although  I  had  some  vague 
recollection  of  having  seen   him   before,  but  where 


216  ADVENTTJRES   EST  TEXAS. 

or  when  I  coTild  not  recall  to  mind.  He  had  a  long 
rifle  in  his  hands,  which  he  mnst  have  fired  once 
already,  for  one  of  the  artillerymen  lay  dead  by  the 
gun.  At  the  moment  I  first  caught  sight  of  him,  he 
shot  down  another,  and  then  began  reloading,  with 
a  rapid  dexterity  that  proved  him  well  used  to  the 
thing.  My  men  were  as  much  astonished  as  I  was 
by  this  strange  apparition,  which  appeared  to  have 
started  out  of  the  earth ;  and  for  a  few  seconds  they 
forgot  to  fire,  and  stood  gazing  at  the  stranger.  The 
latter  evidently  disapproved  their  inaction. 

"D yer  eyes,  ye  starin'  fools!"  shouted  he  in 

a  rough,  hoarse  voice,  "don't  ye  see  them  artillery- 
men?   Why  don't  ye  knock  'em  on  the  head?" 

It  certainly  was  not  the  moment  to  remain  idle. 
We  fired;  but  our  astonishment  had  thrown  us  off 
our  balance,  anc^  we  nearly  all  missed.  We  sprang 
down  the  bank  again  to  load,  just  as  the  men  serving 
the  gun  were  slewing  it  round,  so  as  to  bring  it  to 
bear  upon  us.  Before  this  was  accomplished,  we 
were  under  cover,  and. the  stranger  had  the  benefit 
of  the  discharge,  of  which  he  took  no  more  notice 
than  if  he  had  borne  a  charmed  life.  Again  wo 
heard  the  crack  of  his  rifle,  and  when,  having 
loaded,  we  once  more  ascended  the  bank,  he  w 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  21T 

taking  aim  at  the  last  artilleryman,  who  fell,  as  his 
companions  had  done. 

"  D ye,  for  laggin'  fellers ! "  growled  the  stran- 
ger.    "Why  don't  you  take  that  'ere  big  gun?" 

The  smallness  of  our  numbers,  the  bad  direction 
of  our  first  volley,  but,  above  all,  the  precipitation 
with  which  we  had  jumped  down  the  bank  after 
firing  it,  had  so  encouraged  the  enemy,  that  a  com- 
pany of  infantry,  drawn  up  some  distance  in  rear 
of  the  field-piece,  fired  a  volley,  and  advanced  at 
double-qui^  time,  part  of  them  making  a  small 
circuit  with  the  intention  of  cutting  us  off  from  our 
fi*iends.  At  this  moment  we  saw  Fanning  and 
thirty  men  coming  along  the  river  bank  to  our 
assistance;  so  without  minding  the  Mexicans,  who 
were  getting  behind  us,  we  rushed  forward  to  within 
twenty  paces  of  those  in  our  front,  and  taking 
steady  aim,  brought  down  every  man  his  bird.  The 
sort  of  desperate  coolness  with  which  this  was  done, 
produced  the  greater  effect  on  our  opponents,  as 
being  something  quite  out  of  their  way.  They 
would,  perhaps,  have  stood  firm  against  a  volley 
from  five  times  our  number,  at  a  rather  greater  dis- 
tance ;  but  they  did  not  like  having  their  mustaches 

singed    by    our    powder;    and    after    a    moment^s 
10 


218  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

wavering  and  hesitation,  they  shouted  out  "Diablos! 
Diablos!"  and  throwing  away  their  muskets,  broke 
into  a  precipitate  flight. 

Fanning  and  Wharton  now  came  up  with  all  the 
men.  Under  cover  of  the  infantry's  advance,  the 
gun  had  been  remanned,  but,  luckily  for  us,  only  by 
infantry  soldiers ;  for  had  there  been  artillerymen  to 
seize  the  moment  when  we  were  all  standing  exposed 
on  the  prairie,  they  might  have  diminished  our 
numbers  not  a  little.  The  fuse  was  already  burning, 
and  we  had  just  time  to  get  under  the  bfenk  when 
the  gun  went  off.  Up  we  jumped  again,  and  looked 
about  us  to  see  what  was  next  to  be  done. 

Although  hitherto  all  the  advantage  had  been  on 
our  side,  our  situation  was  still  a  very  perilous  one. 
The  company  we  had  put  to  flight  had  rejoined  its 
battalion,  which  now  advanced  by  echelon  of  com- 
panies. The  second  battalion,  which  was  rather 
farther  from  us,  moved  forward  in  like  manner,  and 
in  a  parallel  direction.  We  should  probably,  there- 
fore, have  to  resist  the  attack  of  a  dozen  companies, 
one  after  the  other ;  and  it  was  to  be  feared  that  the 
Mexicans  would  at  last  get  over  their  panic-terror 
of  our  rifles,  and  exchange  their  distant  and  inefiec- 
tual  platoon  firing  for  a  charge  with  the  bayonet,  in 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  21^ 

which  their  superior  numbers  would  tell.  We  ob- 
served, also,  that  the  cavalry,  which  had  kept  at  a 
safe  distance,  was  now  put  in  motion,  and  formed  up 
close  to  the  island  of  rauskeet  trees,  to  which  the 
right  flank  of  the  infantry  was  also  extending  itself. 
Thence  they  had  clear  ground  for  a  charge  down 
upon  us. 

Meanwhile,  what  had  become  of  the  twelve  men 
whom  we  had  left  in  the  island?  Were  they  still 
there,  or  had  they  fallen  back  upon  the  mission  in 
dismay  at  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  Mexicans? 
If  the  latter,  it  was  a  bad  business  for  us,  for  they 
were  all  capital  shots,  and  well  armed  with  rifles 
and  pistols.  We  heartily  wished  we  had  brought 
them  with  us,  as  well  as  the  eight  men  at  the  mission. 
Cut  off  from  us  as  they  were,  what  could  they  do 
against  the  whole  of  the  cavalry,  and  two  companies 
of  infantry  now  approaching  the  island?  To  add 
to  our  difficulties,  ammunition  began  to  run  short. 
Many  of  us  had  had  only  enough  powder  and  ball  for 
fifteen  or  sixteen  charges,  which  were  now  reduced  to 
six  or  seven.  It  was  no  use  desponding,  however; 
and,  after  a  hurried  consultation,  it  was  agreed  that 
Fanning  and  Wharton  should  open  a  fire  upon  the 
enemy's  center,  while  I  made  a  dash  at  the  field- 


220  ADYENTUEES   IN  TEXAS. 

piece  before  more  infantry  had  come  up  for  its  pro- 
tection. 

The  infantry-men  who  had  remanned  the  gun 
were  by  this  time  shot  down,  and,  as  none  had  come 
to  replace  them,  it  was  served  by  an  oflScer  alone. 
Just  as  I  gave  the  order  to  advance  to  the  twenty 
men  who  were  to  follow  me,  this  officer  fell.  Simul- 
taneously with  his  fall,  I  heard  a  sort  of  yell  behind 
me,  and  turning  round,  saw  that  it  proceeded  from 
the  wild,  specter-looking  stranger,  whom  I  had  lost 
sight  of  during  the  last  few  minutes.  A  ball  had 
struck  him,  and  he  fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  his 
rifle — which  had  just  been  discharged,  and  still 
smoked  from  muzzle  and  touchhole — clutched  con- 
vulsively in  both  hands;  his  features  distorted;  his 
eyes  rolling  frightfully.  There  was  something  in  the 
expression  of  his  face  at  that  moment  which  brought 
back  to  me,  in  vivid  colors,  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  striking  incidents  of  my  residence  in  Texas. 
Had  I  not  myself  seen  him  hung,  I  could  have  sworn 
that  Bob  Rock^  the  murderer^  now  lay  before  me. 

A  second  look  at  the  man  gave  additional  force 
to  this  idea. 

"Bob!"  I  exclaimed.  *  » 

"Bob!"  repeated   the  wounded  mau  in  a, broken 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  221 

voice,  and  with  a  look  of  astonishment,  almost  of 
dismay.    "Who  calls  Bob?" 

A  wild  gleam  shot  from  his  eyes,  which  the  next 
instant  closed.    His  senses  had  left  him. 

It  was  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  to  indulge 
in  speculations  on  this  singular  resurrection  of  a  man 
whose  execution  I  had  myself  witnessed.  With 
twelve  hundred  foes  around  us,  we  had  plenty  to 
occupy  all  our  thoughts  and  attention.  My  people 
were  already  masters  of  the  gun,  and  some  of  them 
drew  it  forward  and  pointed  it  against  the  enemy, 
while  the  others  spread  out  right  and  left  to  protect 
it  with  their  rifles.  I  was  Busy  loading  the  piece 
when  an  exclamation  of  surprise  from  one  of  the 
men  made  me  look  up. 

There  seemed  to  be  something  extraordinary  hap- 
pening among  the  Mexicans,  to  judge  from  the  degree 
of  confusion  which  suddenly  showed  itself  in  their 
ranks,  and  which,  beginning  with  the  cavalry  and 
right  flank  of  the  infantry,  soon  became  general 
throughout  their  whole  force.  It  was  a  sort  of  wa- 
vering and  unsteadiness  which,  to  us,  was  quite 
unaccountable^  for  Fanning  and  Wharton  had  not 
yet  fired  twenty  shots,  and,  indeed,  had  only  just 
come  within  range  of  the  enemy.     ]^ot  knowing 


222  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

what  it  could  portend,  I  called  in  my  men,  and  sta- 
tioned them  round  the  gun,  which  I  double-shotted, 
and  stood  ready  to  fire. 

The  confusion  in  the  Mexican  ranks  increased. 
For  about  a  minute  they  waved  and  reeled  to  and 
fro,  as  if  uncertain  which  way  to  go ;  and  at  last 
the  cavalry  and  right  of  the  line  fairly  broke,  and 
ran  for  it.  This  example  was  followed  by  the  center, 
and  presently  the  whole  of  the  two  battalions  and 
three  hundred  cavalry  were  scattered  over  the  prai- 
rie in  the  wildest  and  most  disorderly  flight.  I  gave 
them  a  parting  salute  from  the  eight-pounder,  which 
would  doubtless  have'  accelerated  their  movements 
had  it  b'ien  possible  to  run  faster  than  they  were 
already  doing. 

We  stood  staring  after  the  fugitives  in  bewilder- 
ment, totally  unable  to  explain  their  apparently 
causless  panic.  At  last  the  report  of  several  rifles 
from  the  island  of  trees  gave  us  a  clue  to  the  mystery. 

The  infantry^  whose  left  flank  extended  to  the 
Salado,  had  pushed  their  right  into  the  prairie  as 
far  as  the  island  of  muskeet  trees,  in  order  to  con- 
nect their  line  with  the  dragoons,  ajjd  then,  by  a 
general  advance,  to  attack  us  on  all  sides  at  once, 
and  get  the  full  advantage  of  their  superior  numbers. 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  223 

The  plan  was  not  a  bad  one.  Infantry  and  cavalry 
approached  the  island,  quite  unsuspicious  of  its 
concealing  an  enemy.  The  twelve  riflemen  whom 
we  had  stationed  there  remained  perfectly  quiet, 
concealed  behind  the  trees;  allowed  squadrons  and 
companies  to  come  within  twenty  paces  of  them, 
and  then  opened  their  fire,  first  from  their  pistols, 
then  from  their  rifles. 

Some  six-and-thirty  shots,  every  one  of  which 
told,  tired  suddenly  from  a  cover  close  to  their  rear, 
were  enough  to  startle  even  the  best  troops,  much 
more  so  our  Mexican  Dons,  who,  already  sufficiently 
inclined  to  a  panic,  now  believed  themselves  fallen 
into  an  ambuscade,  and  surrounded  on  all  sides  by 
the  incarnate  dioMos^  as  they  called  us.  The  cav- 
alry, who  had  not  yet  recovered  the  thrashing  we 
had  given  them,  were  ready  enough  for  a  run,  and 
the  infantry  were  not  slow  to  follow. 

Our  first  impulse  was  naturally  to  pursue  the 
flying  enemy,  but  a  discovery  made  by  some  of  the 
men  induced  us  to  abandon  that  idea.  Tliey  had 
opened  the  pouches  of  the  dead  Mexicans  in  order 
to  supply  themselves  with  ammunition,  ours  being 
nearl}'  expended  ;  but  the  powder  of  the  cartridges 
turned   out  so  bad   as  to  be  useless.     It  was  little 


224  ADVEirruBEs  m  texas. 

better  than  charcoal-dust,  and  would  not  carry  a 
ball  fifty  paces  to  kill  or  wound.  This  accounted 
for  our  apparent  invulnerability  to  the  fire  of  the 
Mexicans.  The  muskets  also  were  of  a  very  inferior 
description.  Both  they  and  the  cartridges  were  of 
English  make ;  the  former  being  stamped  Birming- 
ham, the  latter  having  the  name  of  an  English  pow- 
der-manufactory, with  the  insignificant  addition,  "for 
exportation." 

Under  these  circumstances,  we  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  let  the  Mexicans  run.  We  sent  a  detachment 
to  the  muskeet  island  to  reinforce  the  twelve  men 
who  had  done  such  good  service,  and  thence  to  ad- 
vance toward  the  ford.  We  ourselves  proceeded 
slowly  in  the  latter  direction.  This  demonstration 
brought  the  fugitives  back  again,  for  most  of  them, 
in  the  wild  precipitation  of  their  flight,  had  passed 
the  only  place  where  they  could  traverse  the  river, 
across  which  they  now  crowded  in  the  greatest  con- 
fusion, foot  and  horse  all  mixed  up  together ;  and  by 
the  time  we  got  within  a  hundred  paces  of  the  ford, 
the  prairie  was  nearly  clear  of  them.  There  were 
still  a  cbuple  of  hundred  men  on  our  side  the  water, 
completely  at  our  mercy,  and  Wharton,  who  was  a 
little  in  front  with  thirty  men,  gave  the  word  to  fire 


TWENTY   TO   ONE.  225 

upon  them.  Ko  one  obeyed.  He  repeated  the  com- 
mand. Kot  a  rifle  was  raised.  He  stared  at  his 
men,  astonished  and  impatient  at  this  strange  diso- 
bedience. An  old  weather-beaten  bear-hnnter  step- 
ped forward,  squirting  out  his  tobacco  juice  with  all 
imaginable  deliberation. 

"I  tell  ye  what,  captingl"  said  he,  passing  his 
quid  over  from  his  right  cheek  to  his  left;  "I  cal- 
kilate,  capting,"  he  continued,  "we'd  better  leave 
the  poor  devils  of  Dons  alone." 

"The  poor  devils  of  Dons  alone!"  repeated  Whar- 
ton in  a  rage.    "  Are  you  mad,  man  ? " 

Fanning  and  I  had  just  come  up  with  our  detach- 
ment, and  were  not  less  surprised  and  angry  than 
Wharton  at  this  breach  of  discipline.  The  man, 
however,  did   not  suffer  himself  to  be  disconcerted. 

"There's  a  proverb,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  turning 
to  us,  "which  says,  that  one  should  build  a  golden 
bridge  for  a  beaten  enemy ;  and  a  good  proverb  it 
is,  I  calkilate — a  considerable  good  one." 

"What  do  you  mean,  man,  with  your  golden 
bridge?"  cried  Fanning — "this  is  no  time  for 
proverbs." 

"Do  you  know  that  you  are  liable  to  be  punished 

for  insubordination?"  said  I.     "It's  your  duty  to 
10* 


226  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

fire,  and  do  the  enemy  all  the  harm  you  can — not  to 
be  quoting  proverbs." 

"Calkilate  it  is,"  replied  the  man  very  coolly. 
"Calkilate  I  could  shoot  'em  without  either  danger 
or  trouble;  but  I  reckon  that  would  be  like  Span- 
iards or  Mexicans  ;  not  like  Americans — not  pru- 
dent." 

"E"ot  like  Americans?  Would  you  let  the  enemy 
escape,  then,  when  we  have  him  in  our  power?" 

"  Calkilate  I  would.  Calkilate  we  should  do  our- 
selves more  harm  than  him  by  shootin'  down  his 
people.  That  was  a  considerable  sensible  command- 
ment of  yourn,  always  to  shoot  the  foremost  of  the 
Mexicans  when  they  attacked.  It  discouraged  the 
bold  ones,  and  was  kinder  premium  on  cowardice. 
Them  as  lagged  behind  escaped,  them  as  came 
bravely  on  were  shot.  It  was  a  good  calkilation.  If 
we  had  shot  'em  without  discrimination,  the  cowards 
would  have  got  bold,  seein'  that  they  weren't  safer 
in  rear  than  in  front.  The  cowards  are  our  best 
friends.  ISTow  them  runaways,"  continued  he,  point- 
ing [to  the  Mexicans,  who  were  crowding  over  the 
river,  "  are  jest  the  most  cowardly  of  'em  all,  for  in 
their  fright  they  quite  forgot  the  ford,  and  it's  be- 
cause they  ran  so  far  beyond  it  that  they  are  last  to 


TWENTY   TO    ONE.  ^    227 

cross  the  water.  And  if  you  fire  at  'em  now,  they  '11 
find  that  they  get  nothin'  by  bein'  cowards  ;  and  the 
next  time,  I  reckon,  they  '11  pell  their  hides  as  dear  as 
they  can." 

Untimely  as  this  palaver,  to  use  a  popular  word, 
undoubtedly  was,  we  could  scarcely  forbear  smiling 
at  the  simple,  artless  manner  in  which  the  old  Yan- 
kee spoke  his  mind. 

"Calkilate,  captings,"  he  concluded,  "you'd  better 
let  the  poor  devils  run.  We  shall  get  more  profit 
by  it  than  if  we  shot  five  hundred  of  'em.  Next 
time  they  '11  run  away  directly,  to  show  theif  gratitude 
for  our  giuerosity." 

The  man  stepped  back  into  the  ranks,  and  his 
comrades  nodded  approvingly,  and  calculated  and 
reckoned  that  Zebediah  had  spoke  a  true  word  ;  and 
meanwhile  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  rivijr,  and  was 
out  of  our  reach.  We  were  forced  to  content  our- 
selves with  sending  a  party  across  the  water  to  follow 
up  the  Mexicans,  and  observe  the  direction  they  took. 
We  then  returned  to  our  old  position. 

My  first  thought  on  arriving  there  was  to  search 
for  the  body  of  Bob  Rock — for  he  it  undoubtedly 
was  who  had  so  mysteriously  appeared  among  us. 
T  repaired  to  the  spot  where  I  had  seen  him  fall,  but 


228  ADVENTUEES   IN   TEXAS. 

could  find  no  trace  of  him,  either  dead  or  alive.  I 
went  over  the  whole  scene  of  the  fight,  searched 
among  the  vines  and  along  the  bank  of  the  river; 
there  were  plenty  of  dead  Mexicans  —  cavalry,  in- 
fantry, and  artillery — but  no  Bob  was  to  be  found, 
nor  could  any  one  inform  me  what  had  become  ot 
him,  although  several  had  seen  him  fall. 

I  was  continuing  my  search,  when  I  met  "Wharton, 
who  asked  me  what  I  was  seeking,  and  on  learning, 
shook  his  head  gravely.  He  had  seen  the  wild 
prairieman,  he  said,  but  whence  he  came,  or  whither 
he  was  gone,  was  more  than  he  could  tell.  It  was  a 
long  time  since  any  thing  had  startled  and  astonished 
him  so  much  as  this  man's  appearance  and  proceed- 
ings. He  (Wharton)  w*as  stationed  with  his  party 
among  the  vines,  about  fifty  paces  in  rear  of  Tan- 
ning's people,  when,  just  as  the  Mexican  infantry  had 
crossed  the  ford,  and  were  forming  up,  he  saw  a  man 
approaching  at  a  brisk  trot  from  the  north  side  of  the 
prairie.  He  halted  about  a  couple  of  hundred  yards 
from  Wharton,  tied  his  mustang  to  a  bush,  and,  with 
his  rifle  on  his  arm,  strode  along  the  edge  of  the  prai- 
rie in  the  direction  of  the  Mexicans.  When  he  passed 
near  Wharton,  the  latter  called  out  to  him  to  halt,  and 
to  say  who  he  was,  whence  he  came,  and  whither  going. 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  229 

"Who  I  am  is  no  business  of  yourn,"  replied  the 
man  ;  "  nor  where  I  come  from  neither.  You  '11  soon 
see  where  I'm  goin'.    I'm  goin'  agin'  the  enemy." 

"Then  you  must  come  and  join  us,"  cried  Wharton. 

This  the  stranger  testily  refused  to  do.  He'd 
fight  on  his  own  hook,  he  said. 

Wharton  told  him  he  must  not  do  that. 

He  should  like  to  see  who'd  hinder  him,  he  said, 
and  walked  on.  The  next  moment  he  shot  the  first 
artilleryman.  After  that  they  let  him  take  his  own 
way. 

Neither  Wharton,  nor  any  of  his  men,  knew  what 
had  become  of  .him ;  but  at  last  I  met  with  a  bear- 
hunter,  who  gave  me  the  following  information. 

"  Calkilatin',"  said  he,  "  that  the  wild  prairieman's 
rifle  was  a  capital  good  one — as  good  a  one  as  ever 
killed  a  bear — he  tho't  it  a  pity  that  it  should  fall 
into  bad  hands,  so  went  to  secure  it  himself,  although 
the  frontispiece  of  its  dead  owner  wam't  very  in- 
vitin'.  But  when  he  stooped  to  take  the  gun,  he  got 
such  a  shove  as  knocked  him  backward  ;  and  on 
getting  up,  he  saw  the  prairieman  openin'  his  jacket 
and  examinin'  a  wound  on  his  breast,  which  was 
neither  deep  nor  dangerous,  although  it  had  taken 
away  the  man's  senses  for  a  while.    The  ball  had 


230  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

struck  tho  breast  bone,  and  was  quite  near  the  skin, 
BO  that  the  wounded  man  pushed  it  out  with  his 
fingers ;  and  then,  supporting  himself  on  his  rifle, 
got  up  from  the  ground,  and  without  either  a 
thankye,  or  a  d — nye,  walked  to  where  his  mustang 
was  tied  up,  got  on  its  back,  and  rode  slowly  away 
in  a  northerly  direction." 

This  was  all  the  information  I  could  obtain  on  the 
subject,  and  shortly  afterward  the  main  body  of  our 
army  came  up,  and  I  had  other  matters  to  occupy 
my  attention.  General  Austin  expressed  his  grati- 
tude and  approbation  to  our  brave  fellows,  after  a 
truly  republican  and  democratic  fashion.  He  shook 
hands  with  all  the  rough  bear  and  bufialo  hunters, 
and  drank  with  them.  Fanning  and  myself  he  pro- 
moted on  the  spot  to  the  rank  of  colonel. 

We  were  giving  the  general  a  detailed  account 
of  the  morning's  events,  when  a  Mexican  priest 
appeared  with  a  flag  of  truce  and  several  wagons, 
and  craved  permission  to  take  away  the  dead.  This 
was  of  course  granted,  and  we  had  some  talk  with 
the  padre,  who,  however,  was  too  wily  a  customer 
to  allow  himself  to  be  ^.amped.  What  little  we  did 
get  out  of  him  determined  us  to  advance  the  same 
afternoon  against  San  Antonio.    We  thought  there 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  231 

was  some  chance  that,  in  the  present  panic-struck 
state  of  the  Mexicans,  we  might  obtain  possession 
of  the  place  by  a  bold  and  sudden  assault 

In  this,  however,  we  were  mistaken.  We  found 
the  gates  closed,  and  the  enemy  on  his  guard,  but 
too  dispirited  to  oppose  our  taking  up  a  position  at 
about  cannon-shot  from  the  great  redoubt  We  had 
soon  invested  all  the  outlets  from  the  city. 

San  Antonio  de  Bexar  lies  in  a  fertile  and  well- 
irrigated  valley,  stretching  westward  from  the  river 
Salad o.  In  the  center  of  the  town  rises  the  fort  of 
the  Alamo,  which  at  that  time  was  armed  with 
forty-eight  pieces  of  artillery  of  various  calibre.  The 
garrison  of  the  town  and  fortress  was  nearly  three 
thousand  strong. 

Our  artillery  consisted  of  two  batteries  of  four 
six-pounders  and  five  eight-pounders  ;  our  army  of 
eleven  hundred  men,  with  which  we  had  not  only 
to  carry  on  the  siege,  but  also  to  make  head  against 
the  forces  that  would  be  sent  against  us  from 
Cohahuila,  on  the  frontier  of  which  province  General 
Co»  was  stationed,  with  a  strong  body  of  troops. 

We  were  not  discouraged,  however,  and  opened 
our  fire  upon  the  city.  During  the  first  week,  not  a 
day  passed  without  smart  skirmishes.     General  Cos's 


232  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

dragoons  swarmed  a'bout  iis  like  so  many  Bedouins. 
But  although  well  mounted,  and  capital  horsemen, 
they  were  no  match  for  our  backwoodsmen.  Those 
from  the  western  states,  especially,  accustomed  to 
Indian  warfare  and  cunning,  laid  traps  and  ambus- 
cades for  the  Mexicans,  and  were  constantly  destroy- 
ing their  detachments.  As  for  the  besieged,  if  one 
of  them  showed  his  head  for  ten  seconds  above  the 
city  wall,  he  was  sure  of  getting  a  rifle  bullet  through 
it.  I  cannot  say  that  our  besieging  army  was  a 
perfect  model  of  military  discipline;  but  any  defi- 
ciencies in  that  respect  were  made  good  by  the  intel- 
ligence of  our  men,  and  the  zeal  and  unanimity  with 
which  they  pursued  the  accomplishment  of  one  great 
object — the  capture  of  the  city — the  liberty  and 
independence  of  Texas. 

The  badness  of  the  gunpowder  used  by  the  Mexi- 
cans was  again  of  great  service  to  us.  Many  of  their 
cannon-balls  that  fell  far  short  of  us  were  collected, 
and  returned  to  them  with  powerful  effect.  We  kept 
a  sharp  look-out  for  convoys,  and  captured  no  less 
than  three — one  of  horses,  anotijer  of  provisions, 
and  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  money. 

After  an  eight  weeks'  siege,  a  breach  having  been 
made,  the  city  surrendered,  and  a  month  later,  the 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  233 

fort  followed  the  example.  With  a  powerful  park  of 
artillery  we  then  advanced  upon  Goliad,  the  strong- 
est fortress  in  Texas,  which  likewise  capitulated  in 
about  four  weeks'  time.  We  were  now  masters  of 
the  whole  country,  and  the  war  was  apparently  at  an 
end. 

But  the  Mexicans  were  not  the  people  to  give  up 
their  best  province  so  easily.  They  have  too  much 
of  the  old  Spanish  character  about  them  —  that  deter- 
mined obstinacy  which  sustained  the  Spaniards  du- 
ring their  protracted  struggle  against  the  Moors.  The 
honor  of  their  republic  was  compromised,  and  that 
must  be  redeemed.  Thundering  proclamations  were 
issued,  denouncing  the  Texans  as  rebels,  who  should 
be  swept  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  threatening 
the  United  States  for  having  aided  ns  with  money 
and  volunteers.  Ten  thousand  of  the  best  troops  in 
Mexico  entered*  Texas,  and  were  shortly  to  be  followed 
by  ten  thousand  more.  The  President,  General  Santa 
Anna,  himself  came  to  take  the  command,  attended 
by  a  numerous  and  brilliant  staff. 

The  Texans  laughed  at  the  fanfaronades  of  the 
Dons,  and  did  not  attach  sufficient  importance  to 
those  formidable  preparations.  Their  good  opinion 
of  themselves,  and  contempt  of  their  foes,  had  been 


S8l4  ADVENTURES  IN  TEXAS. 

increased  to  an  unreasonable  degree  by  their  recent 
and  rapid  successes.  They  forgot  that  the  troops  to 
which  they  had  hitherto  been  opposed  were  for  the 
most  part  militia,  and  that  those  now  advancing 
against  them  were  of  a  far  better  description,  and 
had  probably  better  powder.  The  call  to  arms  made 
by  our  president,  Burnet,  was  disregarded  by  many, 
and  we  could  only  get  together  about  two  thousand 
men,  of  whom  nearly  two-thirds  had  to  be  left  to 
garrison  the  forts  of  Goliad  and  Alamo.  In  the  first- 
named  place,  we  left  seven  hundred  and  sixty  men, 
under  the  command  of  Fanning;  in  the  latter,  some-, 
thing  more  than  five  hundred.  With  the  remaining 
seven  or  eight  hundred  we  took  the  field. 

The  Mexicans  advanced  so  rapidly  that  they  were 
upon  us  before  we  were  aware  of  it,  and  we  were 
compelled  to  retreat,  leaving  the  garrisons  of  the  two 
forts  to  their  fate,  and  a  right  melancholy  one  it 
proved. 

One  morning  news  was  brought  to  Goliad  that  a 
number  of  country  people,  principally  women  and 
children,  were  on  their  way  to  the  fort,  closely  pur- 
sued by  the  Mexicans.  Fanning,  losing  sight  of 
prudence  in  his  compassion  for  these  poor  people, 
immediately  ordered   a  battalion   of  ^ve  hundred 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  $80 

men,  under  the  command  of  Major  Ward,  to  go  and 
meet  the  fugitives  and  escort  them  in.  The  major 
and  several  officers  of  the  garrison  doubted  as  to  tho 
propriety  of  this  measure  ;  but  Fanning,  full  of  sym- 
pathy for  his  unprotected  countrywomen,  insisted, 
and  the  battalion  moved  on.  They  soon  came  in 
sight  of  the  fugitives,  as  they  thought,  but  on  draw- 
ing nearer,  the  latter  turned  out  to  be  Mexican  dra- 
goons, who  sprang  upon  their  horses,  which  were 
concealed  in  the  neighboring  islands  of  trees,  and  a 
desperate  fight  began.  The  Mexicans,  far  superior  in 
numbers,  received  every  moment  accessions  to  their 
strength.  The  Louis-Potosi  and  Santa  F6  cavalry, 
fellows  who  seem  born  on  horseback,  were  there. 
Our  unfortunate  countrymen  were  hemmed  in  on  ajl 
sides.  The  fight  lasted  two  days,  and  only  two  men 
out  of  the  five  hundred  escaped  with  their  lives. 

Before  the  news  of  this  misfortune  reached  uS, 
orders  had  been  sent  to  Fanning  to  evacuate  the  fort 
and  join  us  with  six  pieces  of  artillery.  He  received 
the  order,  and  proceeded  to  execute  it.  But  what 
might  have  been  very  practicable  for  eight  hundred 
and  sixty  men,  was  impossible  for  three  hundred 
and  sixty.  Nevertheless,  Fanning  began  his  march 
through  the  prairie.     His  little  band  was  almost 


236  ADVENTUKES   J^  TEXAS. 

immediately  surrounded  by  the  enemy.  After  a 
gallant  defense,  whicli  lasted  twelve  hours,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  an  island  ;  but  scarcely  had  they 
established  themselves  there,  when  they  found  that 
their  ammunition  was  expended.  There  was  nothing 
left  for  them  but  to  accept  the  terms  offered  by  the 
Mexicans,  who  pledged  themselves  that,  if  they  laid 
down  their  arms,  they  should  be  permitted  to  return 
to  their  homes.  But  the  rifles  were  no  sooner  piled 
tha-n  the  Texans  found  themselves  charged  by  their 
treacherous  foes,  who  butchered  them  without  mercy. 
Only  an  advanced  post  of  three  men  succeeded  in 
escaping. 

The  five  hundred  men  whom  we  had  left  in  San 
Antonio  de  Bexar  fared  no  better.  Not  suflSciently 
numerous  to  hold  out  the  town  as  well  as  the  Alamo, 
they  retreated  into  the  latter.  The  Mexican  artil- 
lery soon  laid  a  part  of  the  fort  in  ruins.  Still  its 
defenders  held  out.  After  eight  days'  fighting, 
during  which  the  loss  of  the  besiegers  was  tremen- 
dously severe,  the  Alamo  was  taken,  and  not  a  single 
Texan  left  alive. 

We  thus,  by  these  two  cruel  blows,  lost  two-thirds 
of  our  army,  and  little  more  than  seven  hundred 
men  remained  to  resist  the  numerous  legions  of  our 


TWENTY   TO   ONE.  237 

victorious  foe.    The  prospect  before  us  was  one  well 
calculated  to  daunt  the  stoutest  heart. 

The  Mexican  general,  Santa  Anna,  moved  his 
army  forward  in  two  divisions,  one  stretching  along 
the  coast  toward  Yelasco,  the  other  advancing 
toward  San  Felipe  de  Austin.  He  himself,  with  a 
small  force,  marched  in  the  center.  At  Fort  Bend, 
twenty  miles  below  San  Felipe,  he  crossed  the 
Brazos,  and  shortly  afterward  established  himself, 
with  about  fifteen  hundred  men,  in  an  intrenched 
camp.  Our  army,  under  the  command  of  General 
Houston,  was  in  front  of  Harrisburg,  to  which  place 
the  congress  had  retreated. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  April,  and  our 
whole  disposable  force,  some  seven  hundred  men, 
was  bivouacked  in  and  about  an  island  of  sycamores. 
It  was  a  cloudy,  stormy  evening  ;  a  high  wind  blew, 
and  the  branches  of  the  trees  groaned  and  creaked 
above  our  heads.  The  weather  harmonized  well 
enough  with  our  feelings,  which  were  sad  and  de- 
sponding when  we  thought  of  the  desperate  state 
of  our  cause.  We  (the  officers)  were  seated  in  a 
circle  round  the  general  and  Alcalde,  both  of  whom 
appeared  uneasy  and  anxious.  More  than  once 
they  got  up,  and  walked  backward  and  forward, 


^ 


23S  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

seemingly  impatient,  and  as  if  thej  waited  for  or 
expected  something.  There  was  a  deep  silence 
throughout  the  whole  bivouac;  some  slept,  and 
those  who  watched  were  in  no  humor  for  idle  chat. 

"Who  goes  there?"  suddenly  shouted  a  sentry. 
The  answer  we  did  not  hear,  but  it  was  apparently 
satisfactory,  for  there  was  no  further  challenge,  and 
a  few  seconds  afterward  an  orderly  came  up,  and 
whispered  something  in  the  ear  of  the  Alcalde.  The 
latter  hurried  away,  and,  presently  returning,  spoke 
a  few  words  in  a  low  tone  to  the  general,  and  then 
to  us  officers !  In  an  instant  we  were  all  upon  our 
feet.  In  less  then  ten  minutes  the  bivouac  was 
broken  up,  and  our  little  army  on  the  march. 

All  our  people  were  well  mounted,  and  armed 
with  rifles,  pistols,  and  bowie-knives.  We  had  six 
field-pieces,  but  we  only  took  four,  harnessed  with 
twice  the  usual  number  of  horses.  We  marched  at 
a  rapid  trot  the  whole  night,  led  by  a  tall,  gaunt 
figure  of  a  man  who  acted  as  our  guide,  and  kept 
some  distance  in  front.  I  more  than  once  asked  the 
Alcalde  who  this  was.  "  Yoi|  will  know  by  and  by," 
was  his  answer.  ,  " 

Before  daybreak  we  had  ridden  five-and -twenty 
miles,  but  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  two  more 


I 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  d$9 

guns.  As  yet,  no  one  knew  the  object  of  this  forced 
march.  The  general  commanded  a  halt,  and  ordered 
the  men  to  refresh  and  strengthen  themselves  by  food 
and  drink.  While  they  did  this,  he  assembled 
the  officers  around  him,  and  the  meaning  of  our 
night-march  was  explained  to  us.  The  camp  in 
which  the  Mexican  president  and  general-in-chief 
had  intrenched  himself  was  within  a  mile  of  us  ; 
General  Parza,  with  two  thousand  men,  was  twenty 
miles  farther  to  the  rear  ;  General  Filasola,  with  one 
thousand,  eighteen  miles  lower  down  on  the  Brazos  ; 
Yisca,  with  fifteen  hundred,  twenty-five  miles  higher 
up.  One  bold,  decided  blow,  and  Texas  might  yet 
be  free.  There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose,  nor  was 
one  lost.    The  general  addressed  the  men. 

"Friends!  Brothers!  Citizens!  General  Santa 
Anna  is  within  a  mile  of  us  with  fifteen  hundred  men. 
The  hour  that  is  to  decide  the  queston  of  Texan  lib- 
erty, is  now  arrived.    What  say  you?    Do  we  attack? " 

"  We  do !  "  exclaimed  the  men  with  one  voice, 
cheerfully  and  decidedly. 

In  the  most  perfect  stillness  we  arrived  within  two 
hundred  pac^fi  of  the  enemy's  camp.  The  reveille 
of  the  sleepi^  Mexicans  was  the  discharge  of  our 
two  field-pieces  loaded  with  canister.    Bushing  on  to 


24:0  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

within  twenty-five  paces  of  the  intrenchment,  we 
gave  them  a  deadly  volley  from  our  rifles,  and  then, 
throwing  away  the  latter,  bounded  up  the  breast- 
works, a  pistol  in  each  hand.  The  Mexicans,  scared 
and  stupefied  by  this  sudden  attack,  ran  to  and  fro 
in  the  wildest  confusion,  seeking  their  arms,  and  not 
knowing  which  way  to  turn.  After  firing  our  pistols, 
we  threw  them  away  as  we  had  done  our  rifles,  and, 
drawing  our  bowie-knives,  fell,  with  a  shout,  upon 
the  masses  of  the  terrified  foe.  It  was  more  like  the 
boarding  of  a  ship  than  any  land  fight  I  had  ever 
seen  or  imagined. 

My  station  was  on  the  right  of  the  line,  where 
the  breastwork,  ending  in  a  redoubt,  was  steep  and 
high.  1  made  two  attempts  to  climb  up,  but  both 
times  slipped  back.  On  the  third  trial  I  nearly 
gained  the  summit;  but  was  again  slipping  down, 
when  a  hand  seized  me  by  the  collar,  and  pulled  me 
up  on  the  bank.  In  the  darkness  and  confusion,  I 
did  not  distinguish  the  face  of  the  man  who  rendered 
me  this  assistance.  I  only  saw  the  glitter  of  a  bayo- 
net which  a  Mexican  thrust  into  his  shoulder,  at  the 
very  moment  he  helped  me  up.  He  neither  flinched 
nor  let  go  his  hold  of  me  till  I  was  fairly  on  my 
feet ;  then,  turning  slowly  round,  he  leveled  a  pistol 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  'JP41 

at  the  soldier,  who,  at  that  very  moment,  was  struck 
down  by  the  Alcalde. 

"No  thanks  to  ye,  squire!"  exclaimed  the  man,  in 
a  voice  that  made  me  start,  even  in  that  moment  of 
excitement  and  bustle.  1  looked  at  the  speaker,  but 
could  only  see  his  back,  for  he  had  already  plunged 
into  the  thick  of  the  fight,  and  was  engaged  with  a 
party  of  Mexicans,  who  defended  themselves  desper- 
ately. He  fought  like  a  man  as  anxious  to  be  killed 
as  to  kill,  striking  furiously  right  and  left,  but  never 
guarding  a  blow,  though  the  Alcalde,  who  was  by  his 
side,  warded  off  several  which  were  aimed  at  him. 

By  this  time  my  men  had  scrambled  up  after  me. 
I  looked  round  to  see  where  our  help  was  most  wanted, 
and  was  about  to  lead  them  forward,  when  I  heard 
the  voice  of  the  Alcalde. 

"Are  you  badly  hurt,  Bob?"  said  he  in  an  anxious 
tone. 

I  glanced  at  the  spot  whence  the  voice  came. 
There  lay  Bob  Rock,  covered  with  blood,  and  appa- 
rently insensible.  The  Alcalde  was  supporting  his 
head  on  his  arm.  Before  I  had  time  to  give  a  second 
look,  I  was  hurried  forward  with  the  rest  toward  the 
center  of  the  camp,  where  the  fight  was  the  hottest. 

About  five  hundred  men,  the  pick  of  the  Mexican 
11 


242  ADVENTUEES  IN  TEXAS. 

army,  had  collected  round  a  knot  of  staff-officers,  and 
were  making  a  most  gallant  defense.  General  Hous- 
ton had  attacked  them  with  three  hundred  of  our 
people,  but  had  not  been  able  to  break  their  ranks. 
His  charge,  however,  had  shaken  them  a  little,  and, 
before  they  had  time  to  recover  from  it,  I  came  up. 
With  a  wild  hurrah,  my  men  fired  their  pistols, 
hurled  them  at  their  enemies'  heads,  and  then,  spring- 
ing over  the  corpses  of  the  fallen,  dashed  like  a  thun- 
derbolt into  the  broken  ranks  of  the  Mexicans. 

A  frightful  butchery  ensued.  Our  men,  who  were 
for  the  most  part,  and  at  most  times,  peaceable  and 
humane  in  disposition,  were  converted  into  perfect 
fiends.  "Whole  ranks  of  the  enemy  fell  under  their 
knives.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  horrible 
slaughter,  from  the  fact  that  the  fight,  from  beginning 
to  end,  did  not  last  above  ten  minutes,  and  in  that 
time  nearly  eight  hundred  Mexicans  were  cut  or  shot 
down.  "ITo  quarter!"  was  the  cry  of  the  infuriated 
assailants  :  "  Remember  Alamo !  Remember  Goliad ! 
Think  of  Fanning,  Ward!"  The  Mexicans  threw 
themselves  on  their  knees,  imploring  mercy.  '''Mis- 
ericordia  !  Guartel^por  el  amor  de  Dios  !  "  shrieked 
they  in  heart-rending  tones ;  but  their  supplications 
were  not  listened  to,  and  every  man.  of  them  would 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  243 

inevitably  have  been  butchered,  had  not  General 
Houston  and  the  officers  dashed  in  between  the  vic- 
tors and  the  vanquished,  and  with  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty, and  by  threats  of  cutting  down  our  men  if 
they  did  not  desist,  put  an  end  to  this  scene  of  blood- 
slied,  and  saved  the  Texan  character  from  the  stain 
of  unmanly  cruelty. 

When  all  was  over,  I  hurried  to  the  spot  where  I 
had  left  the  Alcalde  with  Bob,  who  lay,  bleeding 
from  six  wounds,  only  a  few  paces  from  the  spot 
where  he  had  helped  me  up  the  breastwork.  The 
bodies  of  two  dead  Mexicans  served  him  for  a  pillow. 
The  Alcalde  was  kneeling  by  his  side,  gazing  sadly 
and  earnestly  into  the  face  of  the  dying  man. 

For  Bob  was  dying ;  but  it  was  no  longer  the 
death  of  the  despairing  murderer.  The  expression 
of  his  features  was  calm  and  composed,  and  his  eyes 
were  raised  to  heaven  with  a  look  of  hope  and  sup- 
plication. 

I  stooped  down  and  asked  him  how  he  felt  him- 
self, but  he  made  no  answer,  and  evidently  did  not 
remember  me.  After  a  minute  or  two,  "How  goes  it 
with  the  fight  ? "  he  asked  in  a  broken  voice. 

"We  have  conquered.  Bob.  The  enemy  killed  or 
taken.     Not  a  man  escaped." 


244  ADVENTURES   IN  TEXAS. 

He  paused  a  little,  and  then  spoke  again. 

"  Have  I  done  my  duty  ?  May  I  hope  to  be  for- 
given?" 

The  Alcalde  answered  him  in  an  agitated  voice. 

"He  who  forgave  the  sinner  on  the  cross  will 
doubtless  be  merciful  to  you,  Bob.  His  holy  book 
says ;  '  There  is  more  joy  over  one  sinner  that  repent- 
eth  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  men.'  Be  of  good 
hope.  Bob!  the  Almighty  will  surely  be  merciful  to 
you ! " 

"Thank  ye,  squire,"  gasped  Bob,  "you're  a  true 
friend,  a  friend  in  life  and  death.  Well,  it's  come 
at  last,"  said  he,  a  resigned  and  happy  smile  stealing 
over  his  features.  "I've  prayed  for  it  long  enough. 
Thank  God,  it's  come  at  last!  " 

He  gazed  upon  the  Alcalde  with  a  kindly  expres- 
sion of  countenance.  There  was  a  slight  shud- 
dering movement  of  his  whole  frame — Bob  was 
dead. 

The  Alcalde  remained  kneeling  for  a  short  time 
by  the  side  of  the  corpse,  his  lips  moving  in  prayer. 
At  last  he  rose  to  his  feet. 

"God  desireth  not  the  death  of  the  sinner,  but 
rather  that  he  may  turn  from  his  wickedness  and 
live,"  said  he,  in  a  low  and  solemn  tone;  "I  had 


TWENTY  TO   ONE.  245 

those  words  in  my  thoughts  four  years  ago,  when  I 
cut  him  down  from  the  branch  of  the  Patriarch." 

"Four  years  ago!"  cried  I.  "Then  you  cut  him 
down,  and  were  in  time  to  save  him!  Was  it  he  who 
yesterday  brought  us  news  of  the  vicinity  of  the  foe?" 

"It  was,  and  much  more  than  that  has  he  done," 
replied  the  Alcalde,  no  longer  striving  to  conceal  the 
tears  that  fell  from  his  eyes.  "For  four  years  has  he 
served  us,  lived,  fought,  and  spied  for  us,  without 
honor,  reward,  hope,  or  consolation — without  a  single 
hour  of  tranquillity,  or  a  wish  for  aught  except  death. 
All  this  to  serve  Texas  and  his  countrymen.  Who 
shall  say  this  man  was  not  a  true  patriot  ? " 

"  God  will  surely  be  merciful  to  his  soul,"  said  the 
Alcalde,  after  a  pause. 

"I  trust  he  will,"  answered  I,  profoundly  affected. 

We  were  interrupted  at  this  moment  by  a  message 
from  General  Houston,  to  whom  we  immediately 
hastened.  All  was  uproar  and  confusion.  Santa 
Anna  could  not  be  found  among  the  prisoners. 

This  was  a  terrible  disappointment,  for  the  capture 
of  the  Mexican  president  had  been  our  principal 
object,  and  the  victory  we  had  gained  was  compara- 
tively unimportant  if  he  escaped.  Indeed,  the  hope 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  war  by  his  capture  had  more 


246  ADVENTUEES   IN  TEXAS. 

than  any  thing  encouraged  and  stimulated  us  to  the 
unequal  conflict. 

The  moment  was  a  very  critical  one.  Among  our 
men  were  some  thirty  or  forty  desperate  characters, 
who  began  handling  their  knives,  and  casting  looks 
upon  the  prisoners,  the  meaning  of  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  mistake.  Selecting  some  of  our  trustiest 
men,  we  stationed  them  as  a  guard  over  the  captives, 
and,  having  thus  assured  the  safety  of  the  latter, 
questioned  them  as  to  what  had  become  of  their 
general. 

They  had  none  of  them  seen  Santa  Anna  since  the 
commencement  of  the  fight,  and  it  was  clear  that  he 
must  have  made  his  escape  while  we  were  getting 
over  the  breastworks.  He  could  not  be  very  far  off, 
and  we  at  once  took  measures  to  find  him.  A  hun- 
dred men  were  sent  off  with  the  prisoners  to  Harris- 
burg,  and  a  hundred  others,  capitally  mounted  on 
horses  found  in  the  Mexican  camp,  started  to  scour 
the  country  in  search  of  the  fugitive  chief.  I  accom- 
panied the  latter  detachment. 

We  had  been  twelve  hours  in  the  saddle,  and  had 
ridden  over  nearly  a  hundred  miles  of  ground.  We 
almost  despaired  of  finding  the  game  we  were  in 
quest  of,  and  thought  of  abandoning  the  chase,  when, 


TWENTY  TO  ONE.  247 

at  a  distance  of  about  seven  miles  from  the  camp, 
one  of  our  most  experienced  hunters  discovered  the 
print  of  a  small  and  delicate  boot  upon  some  soft 
ground  leading  to  a  marsh.  Following  this  trail,  it 
at  last  led  us  to  a  man  sunk  up  to  his  waist  in  the 
swamp,  and  so  covered  with  mud  and  filth  as  to  be 
quite  unrecognizable.  We  drew  him  from  his  hiding- 
place,  half  dead  with  cold  and  terror,  and,  having 
washed  the  dirt  from  his  face,  we  found  him  to  be  a 
man  of  about  forty  years  of  age,  with  blue  eyes,  of  a 
mild,  but  crafty  expression ;  a  narrow,  high  forehead ; 
long,  thin  nose,  rather  fleshy  at  the  the  tip ;  project- 
ing upper  lip,  and  long  chin.  These  features  tallied 
too  exactly  with  the  description  we  had  had  of  the 
Mexican  president  for  us  to  doubt  that  our  prisoner 
was  Santa  Anna  himself. 

The  only  thing  that  at  all  tended  to  shake  this 
conviction  was  the  extraordinary  poltroonery  of  our 
new  captive.  He  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  beg- 
ging us,  in  the  name  of  God  and  all  the  saints,  to 
spare  his  life.  Our  reiterated  assurances  and  prom- 
ises were  insuflScient  to  convince  him  of  his  perfect 
safety,  or  to  induce  him  to  adopt  a  demeanor  more 
consistent  with  his  dignity  and  high  station. 

The  events  which  succeeded  this  fortunate  capture 


248  ADVENTURES   IN   TEXAS. 

are  too  well  known  to  require  more  than  a  very 
brief  recapitulation.  The  same  evening,  a  truce  was 
agreed  upon  between  Houston  and  Santa  Anna,  the 
latter  sending  orders  to  his  different  generals  to 
retire  upon  San  Antonio  de  Bexar,  and  other  places 
in  the  direction  of  the  Mexican  frontier.  These 
orders,  valueless  as  emanating  from  a  prisoner,  most 
of  the  generals  were  weak  or  cowardly  enough  to 
obey  —  an  obedience  for  which  they  were  afterward 
brought  to  trial  by  the  Mexican  congress.  In  a  few 
days,  two-thirds  of  Texas  was  in  our  possession. 

The  news  of  these  successes  brought  crowds  of 
volunteers  to  our  standard.  In  three  weeks  we  had 
an  army  of  several  thousand  men,  with  which  we 
advanced  against  the  Mexicans.  There  was  no  more 
fighting,  however,  for  our  antagonists  had  had 
enough,  and  allowed  themselves  to  be  driven  from 
one  position  to  another,  till,  in  a  month's  time,  there 
was  not  one  of  them  left  in  the  country. 

The  struggle  was  over,  and  Texas  was  Free ! 


Xtoo  ^igl]f3  li\  $o\\i^c^  ]iJexIco. 


"  A  CAPITAL  place  this  for  our  bivouac ! "  cried  I, 
BwiDging  myself  off  my  mule,  and  stretching  my 
arms  and  legs,  stiffened  by  a  long  ride. 

We  had  halted  in  a  snug  ravine,  well  shaded  by 
mahogany  trees ;  the  ground  was  covered  with  the 
luxuriant  vegetation  of  that  tropical  region,  a  little 
stream  bubbled  and  leaped  and  dashed  down  one  of 
the  high  rocks  that  flanked  the  hollow,  and  rippled 
away  through  the  tall  fern  toward  the  rear  of  our 
halting-place,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  yarda 
from  which  the  ground  was  low  and  shelving. 

"  A  capital  place  this  for  our  bivouac  I " 

My  companion  nodded.     As  to  the  lazy  Mexican 

arrieros  and  servants,  they  said  nothing,  but  began 

making  arrangements  for  passing  the  night.     Curse 

the  fellows !     Had    they   seen   us  preparing  to  lie 

down  in  a  swamp,  cheek  by  jowl  with  an  alligator, 
11* 


250  TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOUTHEKN  MEXICO.* 

I  believe  they  would  have  offered  no  word  of  remon- 
strance. Those  Mexican  half-breeds,  half  Indian 
half  Spaniard,  with  sometimes  a  dash  of  the  Negro, 
are  themselves  so  little  pervious  to  the  dangers  and 
evils  of  their  soil  and  climate,  that  they  forget  that 
Yankee  flesh  and  blood  may  be  rather  more  suscepti- 
ble ;  that  niguas*  and  musquitos,  and  vomito  prieto, 
as  they  call  their  infernal  fever,  are  no  trifles  to 
encounter;  without  mentioning  the  snakes,  and 
scorpions,  and  alligators,  and  other  creatures  of  the 
kind,  which  infest  their  strange,  wild,  unnatural,  and 
yet  beautiful  country. 

I  had  come  to  Mexico  in  company  with  Jonathan 
Kowley,  a  youth  of  Virginia  raising,  six-and-twenty 
years  of  age,  six  feet  two  in  his  stockings,  with  the 
limbs  of  a  Hercules,  and  shoulders  like  the  side  of 
a  house.  It  was  toward  the  close  of  1824  ;  and  the 
recent  emancipation  of  Mexico  from  the  Spanish 
yoke,  and  its  self-formation  into .  a  republic,  had 
given  it  a  new  and  strong  interest  to  us  Americans. 
We  had  been  told  much,  too,  of  the  beauty  of  the 

*  The  nigua  is  a  small  but  very  dangerous  insect,  which  fixes  itself 
in  the  feet,  bores  holes  in  the  skin,  and  lays  its  eggs  there.  These, 
if  not  extracted,  (which  extraction,  by  the  by,  is  a  most  painful 
operation,)  cause  iiret  an  intolemble  itching,  and,  subsequently,  sores 
and  ulcers  of  a  suificiently  serious  nature  to  entail  the  loss  of  the  feet 


TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  251 

country — out  in  this  we  were  at  first  ratner  disap- 
pointed ;  and  we  reached  the  capital  without  having 
seen  any  thing,  except  some  parts  of  the  province  of 
Yera  Cruz,  that  could  justify  the  extravagant  enco- 
miums we  had  heard  lavished  in  the  States  upon  the 
splendid  scenery  of  Mexico.  We  had  not,  however, 
to  go  far  southward  from  the  chief  city,  before  the 
character  of  the  country  altered,  and  became  such 
as  to  satisfy  our  most  sanguine  expectations.  Forests 
of  palms,  of  oranges,  citrons,  and  bananas,  filled  tho 
valleys  :  the  marshes  and  low  grounds  were  crowded 
with  mahogany-trees,  and  with  immense  fern  plants, 
in  height  equal  to  trees.  All  nature  was  on  a  gigan- 
tic scale — the  mountains  of  an  enormous  height, 
the  face  of  the  country  seamed  and  split  by  harran- 
cos  or  ravines,  hundreds,  ay,  thousands  of  feet  deep, 
and  filled  with  the  most  abundant  and  varied  veg- 
etation. The  sky,  too,  was  of  the  deep  glowing  blue 
of  the  tropics,  the  sort  of  blue  which  seems  varnished 
or  clouded  with  gold.  But  this  ardent  climate  and 
teeming  soil  are  not  without  their  disadvantages. 
Yermin  and  reptiles  of  all  kinds,  and  the  deadly 
fever  of  those  latitudes,  render  the  low  lands  unin- 
habitable for  eight  months  out  of  the  twelve.  At 
the  same  time,  there  are  large  districts  comparatively 


252  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICO." 

free  from  those  plagues — perfect  gardens  of  Eden, 
of  such  extreme  beauty,  that  the  mere  act  of  living 
and  breathing  among  their  enchanting  scenes  be- 
comes a  positive  and  real  enjoyment.  The  heart 
leaps  with  delight,  and  the  soul  is  elevated,  by  the 
contemplation  of  those  regions  of  fairy-like  magnifi- 
cence. 

The  most  celebrated  among  these  favored  prov- 
inces is  the  valley  of  Oaxaca,  in  which  two  moun- 
tainous districts,  the  Mistecca,  and  Tzapoteca,  bear 
off  the  palm  of  beauty.  It  was  through  this  immense 
valley,  nearly  three  hundred  leagues  in  length,  and 
surrounded  by  the  highest  mountains  in  Mexico,  that 
we  were  now  journeying.  The  kind  attention  of  our 
charg6-d' affaires  at  the  Mexican  capital,  had  pro- 
cured us  every  possible  facility  in  traveling  through 
a  country  whose  soil  was  at  that  time  rarely  trodden 
by  any  but  native  feet.  We  had  numerous  letters  to 
the  alcaldes  and  authorities  of  the  towns  and  villages 
which  are  sparingly  sprinkled  over  the  southern  pro- 
vinces of  Mexico ;  we  were  to  have  escorts  when 
necessary ;  every  assistance,  protection,  and  facility, 
were  to  be  afforded  us.  But  as  neither  the  authori- 
ties nor  his  excellency.  Uncle  Sam's  envoy,  could 
make  inns  and  houses  where  none  existed,  it  followed 


TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHEEN  MEXICO.  253 

that  we  .were  often  obliged  to  sleep  a  la  helle  etoile^ 
with  the  ekj  for  a  covering.  And  a  right  splendid 
roof  it  was  to  our  bedchamber,  that  tropical  sky,  with 
its  constellations,  all  new  to  us  northerns,  and  every 
star  magnified,  by  the  effect  of  the  atmosphere,  to  an 
incredible  size.  Mars  and  Saturn,  Yenus  and  Jupiter, 
had  disappeared  ;  the  great  and  little  Bear  were  still 
to  be  seen ;  in  the  far  distance  the  ship  Argo  and  the 
glowing  Centaur;  and,  beautiful  above  all,  the  glo- 
rious sign  of  Christianity,  the  colossal  Southera  Cross, 
in  all  its  brightness  and  sublimity,  glittering  in  sil- 
very magnificence  out  of  its  setting  of  dark  blue 
crystal. 

We  were  traveling  with  a  state  and  degree  of  lux- 
ury that  would  have  excited  the  contempt  of  our 
backwoodsmen ;  but  in  a  strange  country  we  thought 
it  best  to  do  as  the  natives  did ;  and  accordingly, 
instead  of  mounting  our  horses  and  setting  forth 
alone,  with  our  rifles  slung  on  our  shoulders,  and  a 
few  handfuls  of  parched  corn  and  dried  flesh  in  our 
hunting  pouches,  we  journeyed  Mexican  fashion,  with 
a  whole  string  of  mules,  a  guide,  a  couple  of  arrieros 
or  muleteers,  a  cook,  and  one  or  two  other  attendants. 
"While  the  latter  slung  our  hammocks  to  the  lower- 
most branches  of  a  tree — for  in  that  part  of  Mexico 


254:  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHEEN   ME3U00.  • 

it  is  not  very  safe  to  sleep  upon  the  ground,  on  ac- 
count of  the  snakes  and  yermin — our  cocinero  lit  a 
fire  against  the  rock,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  an 
iguana  which  we  had  shot  that  day  was  spitted  and 
roasting  before  it.  It  was  strange  to  see  this  hideous 
creature,  in  shape  between  a  lizard  and  a  dragon, 
twisting  and  turning  in  the  light  of  the  fire ;  and  its 
disgusting  appearance  might  have  taken  away  some 
people's  appetites ;  but  we  knew  by  experience  that 
there  is  no  better  eating  than  a  roasted  iguana.  We 
made  a  hearty  meal  off  this  one,  concluding  it  with 
a  pull  at  the  rum  flask,  and  then  clambered  into  our 
hammocks ;  the  Mexicans  stretched  themselves  on 
the  ground  with  their  heads  upon  the  saddles  of  the 
mules,  and  both  masters  and  men  were  soon  asleep. 
It  was  somewhere  about  midnight  when  I  was 
awakened  by  an  indescribable  sensation  of  oppres- 
sion from  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  The  air 
seemed  to  be  no  longer  air,  but  some  poisonous  ex- 
halation that  had  suddenly  arisen  and  enveloped  us. 
From  the  rear  of  the  ravine  in  which  we  lay,  billows 
of  dark  mephitic  mist  rolled  forward,  surrounding 
us  with  their  baneful  influence.  It  was  the  vomito 
priefo,  the  fever  itself,  embodied  in  the  shape  of  a 
fog.    At  the  same  moment,  and  while  I  was  gasping 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHEEN  MEXICO.  255 

for  breath,  a  sort  of  clond  seemed  to  settle  upon  me, 
and  a  thousand  stings,  like  red  hot  needles,  were  rmi 
into  my  hands,  face,  neck  —  into  every  part  of  my 
limbs  and  body  that  was  not  triply  guarded  by  cloth- 
ing. I  instinctively  stretched  forth  my  hands  and 
closed  them,  clutching  by  the  action,  hundreds  of 
enormous  musquitos,  whose  droning,  singing  noiso 
now  almost  deafened  me.  The  air  was  literally 
filled  \wth  a  dense  swarm  of  these  insects ;  and  the 
agony  caused  by  their  repeated  and  venomous  stings 
was  indescribable.    It  was  a  real  plague  of  Egypt. 

Rowley,  whose  hammock  was  slung  some  ten  yards 
from  mine,  soon  gave  tongue :  I  heard  him  kicking 
and  plunging,  spluttering  and  swearing,  with  a  vigor 
and  energy  that  would  have  been  ludicrous  under 
any  other  circumstances ;  but  matters  were  just  then 
too  serious  for  a  laugh.  "With  the  torture,  for  such 
it  was,  of  the  musquito  bites,  and  the  effect  of  the 
vapors  that  each  moment  thickened  around  me,  I 
was  already  in  a  high  state  of  fever,  alternately 
glowing  with  heat  and  shivering  with  cold,  my 
tongue  parched,  my  eyelids  throbbing,  my  brain  on 
fire. 

There  was  a  heavy  thump  upon  the  ground.  It  was 
Rowley  jumping  out  of  his  hammock.    "  Damnation ! " 


256  TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOUTHERN   MEXICO. 

roared  he,  "  where  are  we  ?     On  the  earth,  or  undci 

the  earth? "We  must  be — we   are — in  theii 

Mexican  purgatory.    We  are,  or  there's  no  snakes 
in  Yirginny.    Hallo,  arrieros!    Pablo!    Mateo!" 

At  that  moment  a  scream — but  a  scream  of  such 
terror  and  anguish  as  I  never  heard  before  or  since  — 
a  scream  as  of  women  in  their  hour  of  agony  and 
extreme  peril — sounded  within  a  few  paces  of  us. 
I  sprang  out  of  my  hammock ;  and,  as  I  did  so,  two 
white  and  graceful  female  figures  darted  or  rather 
flew  past  me,  shrieking — and  oh!  in  what  heart-rend- 
ing tones — for  '^ Socorro /  Socorro/  Por  Dios ! 
Help!  Help!"  Close  upon  the  heels  of  the  fugi- 
tives, bounding  and  leaping  along  with  enormous 
strides  and  springs,  came  three  or  four  dark  objects 
which  resembled  nothing  earthly.  The  human  form 
they  certainly  possessed;  but  so  hideous  and  horri- 
ble, so  unnatural  and  specter-like  was  their  aspect, 
that  their  sudden  encounter  in  that  gloomy  ravine, 
and  in  the  almost  darkness  that  surrounded  us, 
might  well  have  shaken  the  strongest  nerves.  We 
stood  for  a  second,  Eowley  and  myself,  paralyzed 
with  astonishment  at  these  strange  appearances  ;  but 
another  piercing  scream  restored  to  us  our  presence 
of  mind.     One  of  the  women  had  either  tripped  or 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  257 

fallen  from  fatigue,  and  she  lay,  a  white  heap,  upon 
the  ground.  The  drapery  of  the  other  was  in  the 
clutch  of  one  of  the  specters,  or  devils,  or  whatever 
they  were,  when  Eowley,  with  a  cry  of  horror, 
rushed  forward  and  struck  a  furious  blow  at  the 
monster  with  his  machete.  At  the  same  time,  and 
almost  without  knowing  how,  I  found  myself  en- 
gaged with  another  of  the  creatures.  But  the 
contest  was  no  equal  one.  In  vain  did  we  stab 
and  strike  with  our  machetes ;  our  antagonists  were 
covered  and  defended  with  a  hard  bristly  hide, 
which  our  knives,  although  keen  and  pointed,  had 
great  difficulty  in  penetrating;  and  on  the  other 
hand  we  found  ourselves  clutched  in  long  sinewy 
arms,  terminating  in  hands  and  fingers,  whose  nails 
were  as  sharp  and  strong  as  an  eagle's  talons.  I  felt 
these  horrible  claws  strike  into  my  shoulders  as  the 
creature  seized  me,  and,  drawing  me  toward  him, 
pressed  me  as  in  the  hug  of  a  bear ;  while  his  hide- 
ous half-man,  half-brute  visage  was  grinning  and 
snarling  at  me,  and  his  long  keen  white  teeth  were 
snapping  and  gnashing  within  six  inches  of  my  face. 

"God   of  heaven!     This  is  hon-ible!      Kowley! 
Help!" 

But  Eowley,  in  spite  of  his  gigantic  strength,  was 


258  TWO  NIGHTS   IN  SOUTHERN   MEXICO. 

powerless  as  an  infant  in  the  grasp  of  those  terrible 
opponents.  He  was  within  a  few  paces  of  me,  strug' 
gling  with  two  of  them,  and  making  superhuman 
efforts  to  regain  possession  of  his  knife,  which  had 
dropped  or  been  wrenched  from  his  hand.  And  all 
this  time,  where  were  our  arrieros?  Were  they 
attacked  likewise?    Why  did'nt  they  come  and  help 

us?    All  this  time! pshaw!  it  was  no  time:   it 

all  passed  in  the  space  of  a  few  seconds,  in  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  few  yards,  and  in  the  feeble  glim- 
mering light  of  the  stars,  and  of  the  smouldering 
embers  of  our  firg,  which  was  at  some  distance 
from  us. 

"Ha!  that  has  told!"  A  stab,  dealt  with  the 
energy  of  despair,  had  entered  my  antagonist's  side. 
But  I  was  like  to  pay  dearly  for  it.  Uttering  a 
deafening  yell  of  pain  and  fury,  the  monster  clasped 
me  closer  to  his  foul  and  loathsome  body ;  his  sharp 
claws,  dug  deeper  into  my  back,  seemed  to  tear  up 
my  flesh  :  the  agony  was  insupportable  —  my  eyes 
swam,  and  my  senses  almost  left  me.  Just  then  — 
Crack!  crack!  Two — four — a  dozen  musket  and 
pistol  shots,  followed  by  such  a  chorus  of  yellings 
and  bowlings  and  unearthly  laughter!  The  creature 
that  held   me  seemed   startled — relaxed   his  grasp 


TWO  NIGHTS   m   SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  259 

sligktly.  At  that  moment  a  dark  arm  was  passed 
before  my  face,  there  was  a  blinding  flash,  a  yell, 
and  I  fell  to  the  ground,  released  from  the  clutch  of 
my  opponent.  I  remember  nothing  more.  Over- 
come by  pain,  fatigue,  terror,  and  the  noxious  vapors 
of  that  vile  ravine,  my  senses  abandoned  me,  and  I 
swooned  away. 

"When  consciousness  returned,  I  found  myself 
lying  upon  some  blankets,  under  a  sort  of  arbor  of 
foliage  and  flowers.  It  was  broad  day;  the  sun 
shone  brightly,  the  blossoms  smelled  sweet,  the  gay- 
plumaged  humming-birds  darted  and  shot  about  in 
the  sunbeams  like  so  many  animated  fragments  of 
a  prism.  A  Mexican  Indian,  standing  beside  my 
couch,  and  whose  face  was  unknown  to  me,  held  out 
a  cocoa-nutshell  containing  some  liquid,  which  I 
eagerly  seized  and  drank  off.  The  draught  (it  was 
a  mixture  of  citron  juice  and  water)  revived  me 
greatly ;  and  raising  myself  on  my  elbow,  although 
with  much  pain  and  difiiculty,  I  looked  around,  and 
beheld  a  scene  of  bustle  and  life  which  to  me  was 
quite  unintelligible.  Upon  the  shelving  hillside  on 
which  I  lay,  a  sort  of  encampment  was  established. 
A  number  of  mules  and  horses  wandered  about  at 
liberty,  or,  fastened  to  trees  and  bushes,  ate  the 


260  TWO   NIGHTS   IN    SOUTHERN   MEXICO. 

forage  that  had  been  collected  and  laid  before  them. 
Some  were  provided  with  handsome  and  commodious 
saddles ;  others  had  pack-saddles,  intended  appar- 
ently for  the  conveyance  of  numerous  sacks,  cases, 
and  wallets,  that  were  scattered  about  on  the  ground. 
Several  muskets  and  rifles  rested  here  and  there 
against  the  trees ;  and  a  dozen  or  fifteen  men  were 
occupied  in  various  ways — some  filling  up  saddle- 
bags or  fastening  luggage  on  the  mules,  others  lying 
on  the  ground  smoking,  one  party  surrounding  a  fire 
at  which  cooking  was  going  on.  At  a  short  distance 
from  my  bed  was  another  similarly  composed  couch, 
occupied  by  a  man  muffled  up  in  blankets,  and  hav- 
ing his  back  turned  toward  me,  so  that  I  was  unable 
to  obtain  a  view  of  his  features. 

"  "What  is  all  this  ?  Where  am  I?  Where  is  Row- 
ley— our  guide — where  are  they  all?" 

"ir<9  entiendo^'^  answered  my  brown-visaged  Gan- 
ymede, shaking  his  head,  and  with  a  good-humored 
smile. 

^^Adonde  esfamosf^^ 

"  jEVi  el  valle  Chihuatan^  en  el  gran  valle  de  Oax- 
aea  y  Guate?nala;  diez  leguas  de  Tarifa.^^ — In  the 
valley  of  Chihuatan  ;  ten  leagues  from  Tarifa. 

The  figure  lying  on  the  bed  near  me  now  made  a 


TWO  NIGHTS  m   SOUTHEEN  MEXICO.  263 

movement,  and  turned  round.  What  could  it  be?  Its 
face  was  like  a  lump  of  raw  flesh  streaked  and  stained 
with  blood.    No  features  were  distinguishable. 

"Who  are  you?    Who  are  you?"  cried  I. 

"Kowley,"  it  answered:  "Kowley  I  was,  at  least, 
if  those  devils  have  n't  changed  me. 

"Then  changed  you  they  have,"  cried  I,  with  a 
wild  langh.  "Good  God!  have  they  scalpecf  him 
alive,  or  what?    That  is  not  Rowley." 

The  Mexican,  who  had  gone  to  give  some  drink 
to  the  creature  claiming  to  be  Rowley,  now  opened 
a  valise  that  lay  on  the  ground  a  short  distance  off, 
and  took  out  a  small  looking-glass,  which  he  brought 
and  held  before  my  eyes.  It  was  then  only  that  I 
called  past  occurrences  to  mind,  and  understood  how 
it  was  that  the  mask  of  human  flesh  lying  near  me 
might  indeed  be  Rowley.  He  was,  if  any  thing, 
less  altered  than  myself.  My  eyes  were  almost 
closed ;  my  lips,  nose,  and  whole  face  swollen  to  an 
immense  size,  and  perfectly  unrecognizable.  I  invol- 
untarily recoiled  in  dismay  and  disgust  at  my  own 
appearance.  The  horrible  night  passed  in  the  ravine, 
the  foul  and  suffocating  vapors,  the  furious  attack  of 
the  musquitos — the  bites  of  which,  and  the  conse- 
quent fever  and  inflammation,  had  thus  disfigured 


262  TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOUTHEEN  MEXICO. 

US — all  recurred  to  our  memory.  But  the  women, 
the  fight  with  the  monsters  —  beasts  —  Indians  — 
whatever  they  were,  that  was  still  incomprehensible. 
It  was  no  dream :  my  back  and  shoulders  still 
smarted  from  the  wounds  inflicted  on  them  by  the 
claws  of  those  creatures,  and  I  now  felt  that  various 
parts  of  my  limbs  and  body  were  swathed  in  wet 
bandages.  I  was  mustering  my  Spanish  to  ask  an 
explanation  of  the  Mexican  who  stood  beside  me, 
when  I  suddenly  perceived  a  great  bustle  in  the 
encampment,  and  saw  everybody  crowding  to  meet 
a  number  of  persons  who  just  then  emerged  from  the 
high  fern,  and  among  whom  I  recognized  our  arrieros 
and  servants.  The  new-comers  were  grouped  around 
something  which  they  dragged  along  the  ground ; 
several  women — for  the  most  part  young  and  grace- 
ful creatures,  their  slender,  supple  forms  muffled  in 
the  flowing  picturesque  rebozos  and  frazadas  —  pre- 
ceded the  party,  looking  back  occasionally  with  an 
expression  of  mingled  horror  and  triumph ;  all  with 
rosaries  in  their  hands,  the  beads  of  which  ran  rapidly 
through  their  fingers,  while  they  occasionally  kissed 
the  cross,  or  made  the  sign  on  their  breasts  or  in  the  air. 
"  Un  Zambo  muerto !  Tin  Zarribo  muerto  P^ 
shouted  they  as  they  drew  near. 


TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  263 

^^Han  matado  un  Zambo!  They  have  killed  a 
Zambo ! "  repeated  my  attendant  in  a  tone  of  exul- 
tation. 

The  party  came  close  np  to  where  Kowley  and  I 
lay ;  the  women  stood  aside,  jumping  and  laugh- 
ing and  crossing  themselves,  and  crying  out,  "  Uti 
Zamho!  Un  Zamho  muertoP'^  the  group  opened, 
and  we  saw,  lying  dead  upon  the  ground,  one  of 
our  horrible  antagonists  of  the  preceding  night. 

"Good  God,  what  is  that?"  cried  Kowley  and  I, 
with  one  breath.    "  Un  demonio!  a  devil  1" 

^^Perdonen  vds,  Sehorea —  Un  Zambo  mono — 
muy  terribles  los  Zamhos.  Terrible  monkeys  these 
Zambos." 

"  Monkeys  I "  cried  I. 

"  Monkeys ! "  repeated  Rowley,  raising  himself  up 
into  a  sitting  posture  by  the  help  of  his  hands. 
"Monkeys — apes — by  Jove!  We've  been  fighting 
with  monkeys,  and  it 's  they  who  have  mauled  us  in 
this  way.  Well,  Jonathan  Rowley,  think  of  your 
coming  from  old  Yirginny  to  Mexico  to  be  whipped 
by  a  monkey.  It's  gone  goose  with  your  character. 
You  can  never  show  your  face  in  the  States  again. 
Whipped  by  an  ape!  —  an  ape,  with  a  tail  and 
a  hairy O  Lord !    Whipped  by  a  monkey ! " 


264:  TWO  KIGHTS   IN  SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  . 

And  the  ludicrousness  of  the  notion  overcoming 
his  mortification,  and  the  pain  of  his  wounds  and 
bites,  he  sank  back  npon  the  bed  of  blankets  and 
banana  leaves,  laugliing  as  well  as  his  swollen  face 
and  sausage-looking  lips  would  allow  him. 

It  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  persuade  myself 
that  the  carcass  lying  before  me  had  never  been  in- 
habited by  a  human  soul.  It  was  humiliating  to 
behold  the  close  afl&uity  between  this  huge  ape  and 
our  own  species.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  tail,  I 
could  have  fancied  I  saw  the  dead  body  of  some 
prairie  hunter  dressed  in  skins.  It  was  exactly  like 
a  powerful,  well-grown  man ;  and  even  the  expres- 
sion of  the  face  had  more  of  bad  human  passions 
than  of  animal  instinct.  The  feet  and  thighs  were 
those  of  a  muscular  man ;  the  legs  rather  too  curved 
and  calfless,  though  I  have  seen  Negroes  who  had 
scarcely  better  ones ;  the  tendons  of  the  hands  stood 
out  like  whipcords ;  the  nails  were  as  long  as 
a  tiger's  claws.  No  wonder  that  we  had  been 
overmatched  in  our  struggle  with  the  brutes.  No 
man  could  have  withstood  them.  The  arms  of 
this  one  were  like  packets  of  cordage,  all  muscle, 
nerve,  and  sinew;  and  the  hands  were  clasped  to- 
gether with  such  force,  that  the  eflforts  of  eight  or  ten 


TWO   NIGHTS   m   SOUTHERN  MEXICO. 

Mexicans  and  Indians  were  insuflBcient  to  disunite 
them.  , 

Whatever  remained  to  be  cleared  up  in  our  night's 
adventures  was  now  soon  explained.  Our  guide, 
through  ignorance  or  thoughtlessness,  had  allowed 
us  to  take  up  our  bivouac  within  a  very  unsafe  dis- 
tance of  one  of  the  most  pestiferous  swamps  in  the 
whole  province.  Shortly  after  we  had  fallen  asleep, 
a  party  of  Mexican  travelers  had  arrived,  and  estab- 
lished themselves  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  us, 
but  on  a  rising  ground,  where  they  avoided  the  me- 
phitic  vapors  and  the  musquitos  which  had  so  tor- 
tured Rowley  and  myself.  In  the  night,  two  of  the 
women,  having  ventured  a  short  distance  from  the 
encampment,  were  surprised  by  the  zambos,  or  huge 
man-apes,  common  in  some  parts  of  Southern  Mex- 
ico ;  and  finding  themselves  cut  off  from  their 
friends,  had  fled  they  knew  not  whither,  fortunately 
for  them  in  the  direction  of  our  bivouac.  Their 
screams,  our  shouts,  and  the  yellings  and  diabolical 
laughter  of  the  zambos,  had  brought  the  Mexicans 
to  our  assistance.  The  monkeys  showed  no  fight 
after  the  first  volley ;  several  of  them  must  have 
been  wounded,  but  only  the  one  now  lying  before  us 

had  remained  upon  the  field. 
12 


266  TWO  NIGHIS   IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICO. 

The  Mexicans  we  had  fallen  among  were  from 
the  Tzapoteca,  principally  cochineal  gatherers,  and 
kinder-hearted  people  there  could  not  well  be.  They 
seemed  to  think  they  never  could  do  enough  for 
us  —  the  women  especially,  and  more  particularly 
the  two  whom  we  had  endeavored  to  rescue  from  the 
power  of  the  apes.  These  latter  certainly  had  cause 
to  be  grateful.  It  made  us  shudder  to  think  of  their 
fate  had  they  not  met  with  us.  It  was  the  delay 
caused  by  our  attacking  the  brutes  that  had  given 
the  Mexicans  time  to  come  up. 

Every  attention  was  shown  to  us.  We  were  fanned 
with  palm-leaves,  refreshed  with  cooling  drinks,  our 
wounds  carefully  dressed  and  bandaged,  our  heated, 
irritated,  musquito-bitten  limbs  and  faces  washed 
with  balsam  and  the  juice  of  herbs :  more  tender  and 
careful  nurses  it  would  be  impossible  to  find.  We 
soon  felt  better,  and  were  able  to  sit  up  and  look 
about  us,  carefully  avoiding,  however,  to  look  at  each 
other,  for  we  could  not  get  reconciled  to  the  horrible 
appearance  of  our  swollen,  bloody,  disgusting  fea- 
tures. From  our  position  on  the  rising  ground,  we 
had  a  full  view  over  the  frightful  swamp  at  the  en- 
trance of  which  all  our  misfortunes  had  happened. 
There  it  lay,  steaming  like  a  great  kettle ;   endless 


TWO  NIGHTS  IN  SOUTHEBN  MEXICO.  267 

mists  rising  from  it,  out  of  which  appeared  here  and 
there  the  crown  of  some  mightj  tree  towering  above 
the  banks  of  vapor.  To  the  left  were  clifis  and  crags, 
which  had  the  appearance  of  being  baseless,  and  of 
swimming  on  the  top  of  the  mist.  Yiiltures  and 
carrion-birds  circled  screaming  above  the  huge  cal- 
dron, or  perched  on  the  tops  of  the  tall  palms,  which 
looked  like  enormous  umbrellas,  or  like  the  roofs  of 
Chinese  summer-houses.  Out  of  the  swamp  itself 
proceeded  the  yellings,  snarlings,  and  growlings,  of 
the  alligators,  bull-frogs,  and  myriads  of  unclean 
beasts  that  it  harbored. 

The  air  was  unusually  sultry  and  oppressive : 
from  time  to  time  the  rolling  of  distant  thunder  was 
audible.  "We  could  hear  the  Mexicans  consulting 
among  themselves  as  to  the  propriety  of  continuing 
their  journey,  to  which  our  suffering  state  seemed  to 
be  the  chief  obstacle.  From  what  we  could  collect 
of  their  discourse,  they  were  unwilling  to  leave  us 
in  this  dangerous  district,  and  in  our  helpless  condi- 
tion, with  a  guide  and  attendants  who  were  either 
untrustworthy  or  totally  incompetent  to  lead  us 
aright.  Yet  there  seemed  to  be  pressing  necessity 
for  continuing  the  march  ;  and  presently  some  of  the 
older  Mexicans,  who  appeared  to  have  the  direction 


268  TWO  NIGHTS   IN  SOUTHERN  MEXICO.. 

of  the  caravan,  came  up  to  us  and  inquired  how  we 
felt,  and  if  we  thought  we  were  able  to  travel ;  add- 
ing that,  from  the  signs  on  the  earth  and  in  the  air, 
they  feared  a  storm,  and  that  the  nearest  habitation 
or  shelter  was  at  many  leagues'  distance.  Thanks  to 
the  remedies  that  had  been  applied,  our  sufferings 
were  much  diminished.  We  felt  weak  and  hungry  ; 
and  telling  the  Mexicans  we  should  be  ready  to  pro- 
ceed in  half-an-hour,  we  desired  our  servants  to  get 
us  something  to  eat.  But  our  new  friends  forestalled 
them,  and  brought  us  a  large  piece  of  iguana,  with 
roasted  bananas,  and  cocoa-nutshell  cups  full  of  cof- 
fee, to  all  of  which  Rowley  and  I  applied  ourselves 
with  much  gusto.  Meanwhile  our  muleteers  and  the 
Tzapotecans  were  busy  packing  their  beasts  and 
making  ready  for  the  start. 

We  had  not  eaten  a  dozen  mouthfuls  when  we  saw 
a  man  running  down  the  hill  with  a  branch  in  each 
hand.  As  soon  as  he  appeared,  a  number  of  the 
Mexicans  left  their  occupations  and  hurried  to  meet 
him. 

^''Siete  Aor<a^5 .'"  shouted  the  man.    "Seven  hours 
and  no  more ! " 

"No  more  than  seven  hours!"  echoed  the  Tzapote- 
cans, in  tones  of  the  wildest  terror  and  alarm.    "  La 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  269 

Santissima  nos  guarde  !    It  will  take  more  than  ten 
to  reach  the  village." 

"What's  all  this  about?"  said  I,  with  my  mouth 
full,  to  Rowley. 

"Don't  know — some  of  their  Indian  tricks,  I 
suppose." 

"  Que  es  estof^^  asked  I  carelessly.  "What's  the 
matter?" 

"  Que  es  esto  ! "  repeated  an  old  Tzapotecan,  with 
long  gray  hair  curling  from  under  his  somhrero^  and 
a  withered  but  finely  marked  countenance.  "Za* 
aguaa!  El  ouracan!  In  seven  hours  the  deluge 
and  the  hurricane ! " 

"  Yamos^  por  la  Santissima !  For  the  blessed 
Yirgin's  sake,  let  us  be  gone !  "  cried  a  dozen  of  the 
Mexicans,  pushing  two  green  boughs  into  our  very 
faces. 

"What  are  those  branches?" 

"  From  the  tempest-tree — the  prophet  of  the  storm," 
was  the  reply. 

And  Tzapotecans  and  women,  arrieros  and  ser- 
vants, ran  about  in  the  utmost  terror  and  confusion, 
with  cries  of  "  Yamos^  paso  redohlado !  Off  with 
us,  or  we  are  all  lost,  man  and  beast,"  and  saddling, 
packing,  and  scrambling  on  their  mules.    And  before 


270  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICO." 

Rotvley  and  I  knew  where  we  were,  they  tore  U3 
away  from  our  iguana  and  coffee,  and  hoisted  and 
pushed  us  into  our  saddles.  Such  a  scene  of  bustle 
and  desperate  hurry  I  never  beheld.  The  place  where 
the  encampment  had  been  was  alive  with  men  and 
women,  horses  and  mules,  shouting,  shrieking,  talk- 
ing, neighing,  and  kicking ;  but  with  all  the  con- 
fusion  there  was  little  time  lost,  and,  in  less  than 
three  minutes  from  the  first  alarm  being  given,  we 
were  scampering  away  over  stock  and  stonej  in  a 
long,  wild,  irregular  train. 

The  rapidity  and  excitement  of  our  ride  had  the 
effect  of  calming  our  various  sufferings,  or  of  making 
us  forget  them;  and  we  soon  thought  no  more  of 
the  fever,  or  of  stings  or  mosquito  bites.  It  was  a 
ride  for  life  or  death,  and  our  horses  stepped  out 
as  if  they  knew  how  much  depended  on  their 
exertions. 

In  the  hurry  and  confusion  we  had  been  mounted 
on  horses  instead  of  our  own  mules  ;  and  splendid 
animals  they  were.  I  doubt  if  our  Virginians  could 
beat  them,  and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal.  There 
was  no  effort  or  straining  in  their  movements ;  it 
was  mere  play  to  them  to  surmount  the  numerous 
difficulties    we    encountered    on    our    road.     Over 


TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICJO.  271 

mountain  and  valley,  swamp  and  barranca,  always 
the  same  steady  surefootedness — crawling  like  cats 
over  the  soft  places,  gliding  like  snakes  up  the 
steep  rocky  ascents,  and  stretching  out  with  prodi- 
gious energy  when  the  ground  was  favorable ;  yet 
with  such  easy  action  that  we  scarcely  felt  the 
motion.  We  should  have  sat  in  the  roomy  Spanish 
saddles  as  comfortably  as  in  arm-chairs,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  numerous  obstacles  in  our  path,  which 
was  strewed  with  fallen  trees  and  masses  of  rock. 
We  were  obliged  perpetually  to  stoop  and  bow  our 
heads  to  avoid  the  creeping  plants  tliat  swung  and 
twined  and  twisted  across  the  track,  intermingled 
often  with  huge  thorns  as  long  as  a  man's  arm. 
These  latter  stuck  out  from  the  trees  on  which  they 
grew  like  so  many  brown  bayonets ;  and  a  man 
who  had  run  up  against  one  of  them  would  have 
been  transfixed  by  it  as  surely  as  though  it  had  been 
of  steel.  We  pushed  on,  in  Indian  file,  following 
the  two  guides,  who  kept  at  the  head  of  the  party, 
and  making  our  way  through  places  where  a  wild- 
cat would  have  difficulty  in  passing ;  through  thickets 
of  mangroves,  mimosas,  and  tall  fern,  and  cactuses 
with  their  thorny  leaves  full  twenty  feet  long;  the 
path  turning  and  winding  all  the  while.    Now  and 


272  TWO  NIGHTS   m  SOUTHERN  MEXICO.   ' 

then  a  momentary  improvement  in  the  nature  of  the 
ground  enabled  ns  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  whole 
column  of  march.  We  were  struck  by  its  picturesque 
appearance,  the  guides  in  front  acting  as  pioneers, 
and  looking  out  on  all  sides  as  cautiously  and  anx- 
iously as  though  they  had  been  soldiers  expecting 
an  ambuscade  ;  the  graceful  forms  of  the  women 
bowing  and  bending  over  their  horses'  manes,  and 
often  leaving  fragments  of  their  mantillas  and  rebozos 
on  the  branches  and  thorns  of  the  labyrinth  through 
which  we  struggled.  But  it  was  no  time  to  indulge 
in  contemplation  of  the  picturesque,  and  of  this  we 
were  constantly  made  aware  by  the  anxious  voci- 
ferations of  the  Mexicans.  "  Yamos!  Pot  Dios^ 
vamos  !  "  cried  they,  if  the  slightest  symptom  of  flag- 
ging became  visible  in  the  movements  of  any  of 
the  party  ;  and  at  the  words,  our  horses,  as  though 
gifted  with  understanding,  pushed  forward  with 
renewed  vigor  and  alacrity. 

On  we  went — up  hill  and  down,  in  the  depths  of 
the  valley  and  over  the  soft  fetid  swamp.  That 
valley  of  Oaxaca  has  just  as  much  right  to  be 
called  a  valley  as  our  Alleghanies  would  have  to 
be  called  bottoms.  In  the  States  we  should  call  it 
a  chain  of  mountains.     Out  of  it  rise  at  every  step 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  273 

hills  a  good  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
valley,  and  four  or  ^yq  thousand  above  that  of  the 
sea ;  but  these  are  lost  sight  of,  and  become  flat 
ground  by  force  of  comparison  —  that  is,  when 
compared  with  the  gigantic  mountains  that  surround 
the  valley  on  all  sides  like  a  frame.  And  what  a 
splendid  frame  they  compose,  those  colossal  moun- 
tains, in  their  rich  variety  of  form  and  coloring!  — 
here  shining  out  like  molten  gold,  there  changing  to 
a  dark  bronze;  covered  lower  down  with  various 
shades  of  green,  and  with  the  crimson  and  purple, 
and  violet  and  bright  yellow,  and  azure  and  dazzling 
white,  of  the  millions  of  paulinias  and  convolvuluses 
and  other  flowering  plants,  from  among  which  rise 
the  stately  palm-trees,  full  a  hundred  feet  high,  their 
majestic  green  turbans  towering  like  sultans'  heads 
above  the  luxuriance  of  the  surrounding  flower  and 
vegetable  world.  Then  the  mahogany-trees,  the 
chicozapotes,  and  again  in  the  barrancas  the  cande- 
labra-like cactuses,  and  higher  up  the  knotted  and 
majestic  live  oak.  An  incessant  change  of  plants, 
trees,  and  climate.  "We  had  been  five  hours  in  the 
saddle,  and  had  already  changed  our  climate  three 
times ;   passed  from  the  temperate   zone,  the  tierra 

terajpladas  into  the  torrid   heat  of  the  tierra  muy 
12* 


274  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO. 

caliente.  It  was  in  the  latter  temperature  that  we 
found  ourselves  at  the  expiration  of  the  above  time, 
dripping  with  perspiration,  roasting  and  stewing 
in  the  heat.  We  were  surrounded  by  a  new  world 
of  plants  and  animals.  The  borax  and  mangroves 
and  fern  were  here  as  lofty  as  forest-trees,  while  the 
trees  themselves  shot  up  like  steeples.  In  the  thick- 
ets around  us  were  numbers  of  black  tigers — we 
saw  dozens  of  those  cowardly,  sneaking  beasts  — 
iguanas  full  three  feet  long,  squirrels  double  the 
size  of  any  we  had  ever  seen,  and  panthers,  and 
wild  pigs,  and  jackals,  and  apes  and  monkeys  of 
every  tribe  and  description,  whp  threatened  and 
grinned  and  chattered  at  us  from  the  branches  of 
the  trees.  But  what  is  that  yonder  to  the  right,  that 
stands  out  so  white  against  the  dark  blue  sky 'and 
the  bronze-colored  rocks?  A  town  —  Quidricovi, 
d'ye  call  it? 

We  bad  now  ridden  a  good  five  or  six  leagues, 
and  began  to  think  we  had  escaped  the  aguas  or 
deluge,  of  which  the  prospect  had  so  terrified  our 
friends  the  Tzapotecans.  Rowley  calculated,  as  he 
went  pufiing  and  grumbling  along,  that  it  wouldn't 
do  any  harm  to  let  our  beasts  draw  breath  for  a 
minute  or  two.     The  scrambling  and  constant  change 


TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHEEN  MEXICO.  275 

of  pace  rendered  necessary  by  the  nature  of  the 
road,  or  rather  track,  was  certainly  dreadfully  fatigu 
ing  both  to  man  and  horse.  As  for  conversation,  it 
was  out  of  the  question.  We  had  plenty  to  do  to 
avoid  getting  our  necks  broken,  or  our  teeth  knocked 
out,  as  we  struggled  along,  up  and  down  barrancas, 
through  marshes  and  thickets,  over  rocks  and  fallen 
trees,  and  through  mimosas  and  bushes  laced  and 
twined  together  with  thorns  and  creeping  plants  —  all 
which  would  have  been  beautiful  in  a  picture,  but 
was  most  infernally  unpoetical  in  reality. 

^^Yamos!  Pot  la  Santiasima  Madre^  vamosP'* 
yelled  our  guides,  and  the  cry  was  taken  up  by  the 
Mexicans,  in  a  shrill,  wild  tone  that  jarred  strangely 
upon  our  ears,  and  made  the  horses  start  and  strain 
forward.  Hurra!  on  we  go,  through  thorns  and 
bushes,  which  scratch  and  flog  us,  and  tear  our 
clothes  to  rags.  "We  shall  be  naked  if  this  lasts  long. 
It  is  a  regular  race.  In  front  the  two  guides,  stoop- 
ing, nodding,  bowing,  crouching  down,  first  to  one 
side,  then  to  the  other,  like  a  couple  of  mandarins 
or  Indian  idols  —  behind  them  a  Tzapotecan  in  his 
picturesque  capa,  then  the  women,  then  more  Tzapo- 
tecans.  There*  is  little  thought  about  precedence  or 
ceremony ;  and  Rowley  and  I,  having  been  in  the 


276  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO. 

least  Lurry  to  start,  find  ourselves  bringing  up  tho 
rear  of  the  whole  column. 

^^Yamos!  For  la  Santisshna !  Las  aguas^laa 
aguas  !  "  is  again  yelled  by  twenty  voices.  Hang  tho 
fools !  Can't  they  be  quiet  with  their  eternal  vamos? 
"We  can  have  barely  two  leagues  more  to  go  to  reach 
the  rancho^  or  village,  they  were  talking  of,  and 
appearances  are  not  as  yet  very  alarming.  It  is 
getting  rather  thick,  to  be  sure  ;  but  that's  nothing. 
only  the  exhalations  from  the  swamp,  for  we  are 
again  aj>proaching  one  of  those  cursed  swamps,  and 
can  hear  the  music  of  the  alligators  and  bull-frogs. 
There  they  are,  the  beauties ;  a  couple  of  them  are 
taking  a  peep  at  us,  sticking  their  elegant  heads  and 
long,  delicate  snouts  out  of  the  slime  and  mud.  Tho 
neighborhood  is  none  of  the  best;  but  luckily  the 
path  is  firm  and  good,  carefully  made,  evidently  by 
Indian  hands.  I^one  but  Indians  could  live  and 
labor  and  travel  habitually,  in  such  a  pestilential 
atmosphere.  Thank  God!  we  are  out  of  it  at  last. 
Again  on  firm  forest  ground,  amidst  the  magnificent 
monotony  of  the  eternal  palms  and  mahogany-trees. 
But — see  there! 

A  new  and  surpassingly  beautiful  landscape  burst 
suddenly  upon  our  view,  seeming  to  dance  in  the 


TWO   KIGHTS  IN   SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  27\ 

transparent  atmosphere.  On  either  side,  mountains, 
those  on  the  left  in  deep  shadow,  those  on  the  right 
standing  forth  like  colossal  figures  of  light,  in  a 
beauty  and  splendor  that  seemed  really  supernatural, 
every  tree,  every  branch,  shining  in  its  own  vivid  and 
most  glorious  coloring.  There  lay  the  valley  in  its 
tropical  luxuriance  and  beauty,  one  sheet  of  bloom 
and  blossom  up  to  the  topmost  crown  of  the  palm- 
trees,  that  shot  up,  some  of  them,  a  hundred  and 
fifty  and  a  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high.  Thousands 
and  millions  of  convolvuluses,  paulinias,  bignonias, 
dendrobiums,  climbing  from  the  fern  to  the  tree 
trunks,  from  the  trunks  to  the  branches  and  summits 
of  the  trees,  and  thence  again  falling  gracefully 
down,  and  catching  and  clinging  to  the  mangroves 
and  blocks  of  granite.  It  burst  upon  us  like  a  scene 
of  enchantment,  as  we  emerged  from  the  darkness 
of  the  forest  into  the  dazzling  light  and  coloring  of 
that  glorious  valley. 

^^  Misericordia^  ffiisericordia  !  Audi  nos  peccor 
dors!  Misericordia^  las  aguas!'^'*  suddenly  screamed 
and  exclaimed  the  Mexicans  in  various  intonations 
of  terror  and  despair.  We  looked  around  us.  What 
can  be  the  matter?  We  see  nothing.  Nothing,  ex- 
cept that  from  just  behind  those  two  mountains, 


278  TWO   NIGHTS   m   SOUTHERN  MEXICX). 

which  project  like  promontories  into  the  valley,  a 
cloud  begins  to  rise.  "What  is  it?  What  is  wrong?" 
A  dozen  voices  answered  las  — 

*'J*or  la  Santa  Virgen^  for  the  holy  "Virgin's  sake, 
on,  on !  There  is  no  time  for  words.  We  have  still 
two  leagues  to  go,  and  in  one  hour  comes  the  flood." 

And  they  recommenced  their  howling,  yelling 
chorus  of  ^^Misericordia!  Audi  nos  peccadores !  '^^ 
and  ''^Santissima  Virgen^  and  Todos  santos  y 
angelesP'^ 

"Are  the  fellows  mad?  "shouted  Kowley,  "What 
if  the  water  does  come?  It  won't  swallow  you.  A 
ducking  more  or  less  is  no  such  great  matter.  You  're 
not  made  of  sugar  or  salt.  Many's  the  drenching 
I've  had  in  the  States,  and  none  the  worse  for  it. 
Yet  our  rains  are  no  child's  play  neither." 

On  looking  round  us,  however,  we  were  involunta- 
rily struck  with  the  sudden  change  in  the  appearance 
of  the  heavens.  The  usual  golden  blue  color  of  tlie 
sky  was  gone,  and  had  been  replaced  by  a  dull, 
gloomy  gray.  The  quality  of  the  air  had  also 
changed;  it  was  neither  very  warm  nor  very  cold, 
but  it  had  lost  its  lightness  and  elasticity,  and  op- 
pressed  and  weighed  us  down.  Presently  we  saw 
the  dark  cloud  rise  gradually  from  behind  the  hills, 


TWO  NIGHTS   IN  SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  279 

completely  clearing  their  summits,  and  then  sweep 
along  until  it  hung  over  the  valley,  in  form  and 
appearance  like  some  monstrous  night-moth,  resting 
the  tips  of  its  enormous  wings  on  the  mountains 
on  either  side.  To  our  right  we  still  saw  the  roofe 
and  walls  of  Quidricovi,  apparently  at  a  very  short 
distance. 

"Why  not  go  to  Quidricovi?"  shouted  I  to  the 
guides  —  "we  cannot  be  far  off." 

"More  than  five  leagues,"  answered  the  men, 
shaking  their  heads  and  looking  up  anxiously  at  the 
huge  moth,  which  still  crept  and  crawled  on,  each 
moment  darker  and  more  threatening.  It  was  like 
a  frightful  monster,  or  the  fabled  Kraken,  working 
itself  along  by  its  claws,  which  were  struck  deep 
into  the  mountain-wall  on  either  side  of  its  line  of 
progress,  and  casting  its  hideous  shadow  over  hill 
and  dale,  forest  and  valley,  clothing  them  in  gloom 
and  darkness.  To  our  right  hand  and  behind  us, 
the  mountains  were  still  of  a  glowing  golden  red, 
lighted  up  by  the  sun  J  but  to  the  left,  and  in  our 
front,  all  was  black  and  dark.  With  the  same 
glance  we  beheld  the  deepest  gloom  and  the  brightest 
day,  meeting  each  other,  but  not  mingling.  It  was 
a  strange  and  ominous  sight. 


280  TWO  NIGHTS   IN  SOUTHEEN  MEXKX).      . 

Ominous  enough  ;  and  the  brute  creation  feel  it  so 
as  well  as  ourselves.  The  chattering  parrots,  the 
hopping,  gibbering,  quarrelsome  apes,  all  the  birds 
and  beasts,  scream,  and  cry,  and  flutter,  and  spring 
about,  as  though  seeking  a  refuge  from  some  impend- 
ing: danger.  Even  our  horses  tremble  and  groan  — 
refuse  to  go  on,  start  and  snort,  ^e  whole  animal 
world  is  in  commotion — seized  with  an  overwhelming 
panic.  The  forest  teems  with  inhabitants.  Whence 
come  they,  all  these  living  things  ?  On  every  side  is 
heard  the  howling  and  snarling  of  beasts,  the  fright- 
ened cries  and  chirpings  of  birds.  The  vultures  and 
turkey-buzzards,  which  a  few  minutes  before  circled 
high  in  the  air,  now  scream  amidst  the  branches  of^he 
mahogany-trees ;  every  creature  that  has  life  is  run- 
ning, scampering,  flying— apes  and  tigers,  birds  and 
creeping  things. 

"  Yamos^ por  la  Santissima !  On!  or  we  are  all 
lost." 

And  we  ride,  we  rush  along — neither  masses  of 
rock,  nor  fallen  trees,  nor  thorns  and  brambles,  check 
our  wild  career.  Over  every  thing  we  go,  leaping, 
scrambling,  plunging,  riding  like  desperate  men, 
flying  from  a  danger  of  which  the  nature  is  not 
clearly  defined,  but  which  we  feel  to  be  great  and 


TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOTJTHEBN  MEXICO.  281 

imminent.  It  is  a  frightful,  terror-striking  foe,  that 
huge  night-moth,  which  comes  ever  nearer,  growing 
each  moment  bigger  and  blacker.  Looking  behind 
us,  we  catch  one  last  glimpse  of  the  red  and  blood- 
shot sun,  which  the  next  instant  disappears  behind 
the  edge  of  the  mighty  cloud. 

Still  we  push  on.  Hosts  of  tigers,  and  monkeys 
both  large  and  small,  and  sqnirrels  and  jackals,  come 
close  up  to  us  as  if  seeking  shelter,  and  then,  finding 
none,  retreat  howling  into  the  forest.  There  is  not  a 
breath  of  air  stirring,  yet  all  nature — plants  and  trees, 
men  and  beasts  —  quivers  and  trembles  with  appre- 
hension. Our  horses  pant  and  groan  as  they  bound 
aloi^  with  dilated  nostrils  and  glaring  eyes,  shaking 
in  every  limb,  sweating  at  every  pore,  half  wild 
with  terror;  giving  springs  and  leaps  that  moro 
resemble  those  of  a  hunted  tiger  than  of  a  horse. 

The  prayers  and  exclamations  of  the  terrified 
Mexicans  continued  without  intermission,  whispered 
and  shrieked  and  groaned  in  every  variety  of  intona- 
tion. The  earthly  hue  of  in|^se  terror  was  upon 
every  countenance.  For  some  moments  a  deathlike 
stillness,  an  unnatural  calm,  reigned  around  ns  :  it 
was  as  though  the  elements  held  their  breath,  and 
collected   their  energies  for  some  mighty  outbreak. 


282  TWO  NIGHTS   m   SOUTHERN  MEXICO. 

Then  came  a  low,  indistinct,  moaning  sound,  that 
seemed  to  issue  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  The 
warning  was  significant. 

"  Halt !  stop ! "  shouted  we  to  the  guides.  "  Stop  I 
and  let  us  seek  shelter  from  the  storm." 

"On!  for  God's  sake,  on!  or  we  are  lost,"  was  the 
reply. 

Thank  Heaven!  the  path  gets  wider — we  come  to 
,a  descent — it  leads  us  out  of  the  forest.  If  the  storm 
came  on  while  we  were  among  the  trees,  we  might  be 
crushed  to  death  by  the  falling  branches.  We  are 
close  to  a  barranca. 

^•''Alerto!  Alerto  P"*  shrieked  the  Mexicans.  "J/a- 
dredeDios!  Dios!  DiosP"^  ^ 

And  well  might  they  call  to  God  for  help  in  that 
awful  moment.  The  gigantic  night-moth  gaped  and 
shot  forth  tongues  of  fire — a  ghastly  white  flame,  that 
contrasted  strangely  and  horribly  with  the  dense  black 
cloud  whence  it  issued.  There  was  a  peal  of  thunder 
that  shook  the  earth,  then  a  pause,  during  which 
nothing  was  heard  but  the  panting  of  our  horses  as 
they  dashed  across  the  barranca,  and  strained  up 
the  steep  side  of  a  knoll  or  hillock.  The  cloud  again 
opened ;  for  a  second  every  thing  was  lighted  up. 
Another  thunder-clap,  and  then,  as  though  the  gates 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  283 

ol  its  prison  had  been  suddenly  burst,  the  tempest 
came  forth  in  its  might  and  fury,  breaking,  crushing, 
and  sweeping  away  all  that  opposed  it.  The  trees  of 
the  forest  staggered  and  tottered  for  a  moment,  as  if 
making  an  effort  to  bear  up  against  the  storm  ;  but  it 
was  in  vain  :  the  next  instant,  with  a  report  like  that 
of  ten  thousand  cannon,  whole  acres  of  mighty  trees 
were  snapped  off,  their  branches  shivered,  their  roots 
torn  up ;  it  was  no  longer  a  forest  but  a  chaos,  an 
ocean  of  boughs  and  tree-trunks,  that  were  tossed 
about  like  the  waves  of  the*8ea,  or  thrown  into  the 
air  like  straws.  The  atmosphere  was  'darkened  with 
dust,  and  leaves,  and  branches. 

*'TOd  be  mercifiil  tons!  Kowley!  where  are  you? 
No  answer.    What  is  become  of  them  all?" 

A  second  blast  more  furious  than  the  first.  Can 
the  mountains  resist  it?  will  they  stand?  By  the 
Almighty !  they  do  not.  The  earth  trembles ;  the 
hillock,  on  the  lee-side  of  which  we  are,  rocks  and 
shakes.  The  air  is  thick  and  suffocating  —  full  of 
dust  and  saltpeter  and  sulphur.  We  are  like  to  choke. 
All  around  is  dark  as  night.  We  see  nothing,  hear 
nothing  but  the  howling  of  the  hurricane,  and  the 
thunder  and  rattle  of  falling  trees  and  shivered 
branches. 


284:  TWO  NIGHTS  IN  SOUTHEEN  MEXICO.     ' 

Suddenly  the  hurricane  ceases,  and  all  is  hushed ; 
but  so  suddenly,  that  the  change  is  startling  and  un- 
natural. 'No  sound  is  audible  save  the  creaking  and 
moaning  of  the  trees  with  which  the  ground  is  cum- 
bered. It  is  like  a  sudden  pause  in  a  battle,  when  the 
roar  of  cannon  and  clang  of  charging  squadrons  cease, 
and  naught  is  heard  but  the  groaning  of  the  wounded, 
the  agonized  sobs  and  gasps  of  the  dying. 

The  report  of  a  pistol  is  heard  ;  then  another,  a 
third,  hundreds,  thousands  of  them.  It  is  the  flood, 
las  aguas ;  the  shots  are  drops  of  rain  ;  but  such 
drops !  each  as  big  as  a  hen's  ^gg.  They  strike  with 
the  force  of  enormous  hailstones — stunning  and 
blinding  us.  The  next  moment  there  is  no  di^inc- 
tion  of  drops,  the  windows  of  heaven  are  opened ;  it 
is  no  longer  rain  or  flood,  but  a  sea,  a  cataract,  a 
Niagara.  The  hillock  on  which  I  stand,  undermined 
by  the  waters,  gives  way  and  crumbles  under  me  ;  in 
ten  seconds'  time  I  find  myself  in  the  barranca,  which 
is  converted  into  a  river,  off  my  horse,  which  is  gone 
I  know  not  whither.  The  only  person  I  see  near  me 
is  Rowley,  also  dismounted  and  struggling  against 
the  stream,  which,  already  up  to  our  waists,  sweeps 
along  with  it  huge  branches,  and  entire  trees,  that 
threaten  each  moment  to  carry  us  away  with  them, 


TWo'NIGHTS  in  southern  MEXICO.  285 

or  to  crush  us  against  the  rocks.  We  avoid  these 
dangers,  God  knows  how,  make  violent  efforts  to 
stem  the  torrent  and  gain  the  side  of  the  barranca  ; 
although,  even  should  we  succeed,  it  is  so  steep  that 
we  can  scarcely  hope  to  climb  it  without  assistance. 
And  whence  is  that  assistance  to  come?  Of  the 
Mexicans  we  see  or  hear  nothing.  Doubtless  they 
are  all  drowned  or  dashed  to  pieces.  '  They  were 
higher  up  on  the  hillock  than  we  were,  must  conse- 
quently have  been  swept  down  with  more  force,  and 
were  probably  carried  away  by  the  torrent.  Nor  can 
we  hope  for  a  better  fate.  Wearied  by  our  ride, 
weakened  by  the  fever  and  sufferings  of  the  preced- 
ing Hight,  we  are  in  no  condition  to  strive  much 
longer  with  the  fmious  elements.  For  one  step  that 
we  gain,  we  lose  two.  The  waters  rise ;  already  they 
are  nearly  to  our  arm-pits.  It  is  in  vain  to  resist. 
Ovir  fate  is  sealed. 

"Rowley,  all  is  over — let  us  die  like  men.  God 
have  mercy  on  our  souls ! " 

Rowley  was  a  few  paces  higher  up  the  barranca. 
He  made  me  no  answer,  but  looked  at  me  with  a 
calm,  cold,  and  yet  somewhat  regretful  smile  upon  his 
countenance.  Then  all  at  once  he  ceased  his  efforts 
to  resict  the  stream  and  gain  the  bank,  folded  his 


286  TWO  NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHEBN   MEXICO.  ' 

arms  on  bis  breast  and  gave  a  look  up  and  around 
bim,  as  thougb  to  bid  farewell  to  tbe  world  be  was 
about  to  leave.  Tbe  current  was  sweeping  biiu 
rapidly  down  toward  me,  wben  a  wild  burrab  burst 
from  bis  lips,  and  be  suddenly  recommenced  bis 
struggles  against  tbe  •waters,  striving  violently  to 
retain  a  footing  on  tbe  slippery,  uneven  bed  of  tbe 
stream. 

^'•Tenga!  TengaP'*  screamed  a  dozen  voices,  tbat 
seemed  to  proceed  from  tbe  spirits  of  tbe  air ;  and  af; 
tbe  same  moment  sometbing  wbistled  about  my  ears 
and  struck  me  a  smart  blow  across  tbe  face.  Witb 
the  instinct  of  a  drowning  man,  I  clutcbed  tbe  lasso 
tbat  bad  been  tbrown  to  me.  Rowley  was  at  my 
elbow  and  seized  it  also.  It  was  immediately  drawn 
tight,  and  by  its  aid  we  gained  the  bank,  and  ascended 
tbe  side  of  the  barranca,  composed  of  rugged,  decliv- 
itous rocks,  affording  but  scanty  foothold.  God  grant 
the  lasso  prove  tough!  The  strain  on  it  is  fearful. 
Howley  is  a  good  fifteen  stone,  and  I  am  no  feather ; 
and  in  some  parts  of  our  perilous  ascent  the  rocks 
are  almost  as  perpendicular  and  smooth  as  a  wall  of 
masonry,  and  we  are  obliged  to  cling  witb  our  whole 
weight  to  the  lasso,  which  stretches  and  cracks,  and 
seems  to  grow  visibly  thinner.    Nothing  but  a  strip 


TWO  NIGHTS  m  SOUTHERN  MEXICO.  287 

of  twisted  cowhide  between  lis  and  a  friglitfvil,  ag- 
onizing death  on  the  sharp  rocks  and  in  the  foaming 
waters  below.  But  the  lasso  holds  good,  and  now  the 
chief  peril  is  past:  we  get  footing — a  point  of  rock, 
or  a  tree-root  to  clutch  at.  Another  strain  up  this 
rugged  slope  of  granite,  another  pull  at  the  lasso ; 
a  leap,  a  last  violent  effort,  and — Viva! — we  are 
seized  under  the  arras,  dragged  up,  held  upon  our 
feet  for  a  moment,  and  then — we  sink  exhausted  to 
the  ground  in  the  midst  of  the  Tzapotecans,  mules, 
arrieros,  guides,  and  women,  who  are  sheltered  from 
the  storm  in  a  sort  of  natural  cavern. 

At  the  moment  at  which  the  hillock  gave  waj  under 
Rowley  and  myself,  who  were  a  short  distance  in  rear 
of  the  party,  the  Mexicans  succeeded  in  attaining  firm 
footing  on  a  broad,  rocky  ledge,  a  shelf  of  the  precipice 
that  flanked  the  barranca.  Upon  this  ledge,  wliich 
gradually  widened  into  a  platform,  they  found  them- 
selves in  satety  under  some  projecting  crags  tliat 
sheltered  them  completely  from  the  tempest.  Thence 
tliey  looked  down  npon  the  barranca,  where  tlicy  de- 
scried Rowley  and  myself  struggling  for  our  lives  in 
the  roaring  torrent ;  and  thence,  by  knotting  several 
lassos  together,  they  were  able  to  give  us  the  opportune 
aid  which  had  rescued  us  from  our  desperate  situation. 


288  TWO  NIGHTS   IN  SOUTHERN   MEXICO.      " 

But  whether  this  aid  had  come  soon  enough  to  save 
our  lives  was  still  a  question,  or  at  least  for  some  time 
appeared  to  be  so.  The  life  was  driven  out  of  our 
bodies  by  all  we  had  gone  through:  we  could  not 
move  a  finger,  and  lay  helpless  and  motionless,  with 
only  a  glimmering,  indistinct  perception,  not  amount- 
ing to  consciousness,  of  what  was  going  on  around 
us.  Fatigue,  fever,  and  the  sujfferings  of  all  kinds 
we  had  endured  in  the  course  of  the  last  twenty 
hours,  had  completely  exhausted  and  broken  us  down. 
The  storm  did  not  last  long  in  its  violence,  but 
swept  onward,  leaving  a  broad  track  of  desolation 
behind  it.  The  Mexicans  recommenced  their  journey, 
with  the  exception  of  four  or  &yq  who  remained  with 
us  and  our  arrieros  and  servants.  The  village  to 
which  we  were  proceeding  was  not  above  a  league 
off;  but  even  that  short  distance  Rowley  and  myself 
were  in  no  condition  to  accomplish.  The  kind-hearted 
Tzapotecans  made  us  swallow  cordials,  stripped  off 
our  drenched  and  tattered  garments,  and  wrapped  us 
in  an  abundance  of  blankets.  We  fell  into  a  deep 
sleep,  which  lasted  all  that  evening  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  night,  and  so  much  refreshed  us  that 
about  an  hour  before  daybreak  we  were  able  to 
resume  our  march — at  a  slow  pace,  it  is  true,  and 


TWO   NIGHTS    IN   SOtriHERN   MEXICO.  289 

suffering  grievously  in  every  part  of  our  bruised  and 
wounded  limbs  and  bodies,  at  each  jolt  or  rough 
motion  of  the  mules,  upon  which  we  clung  rather 
than  sat.  ^ 

Our  path  lay  over  hill  and  dale,  perpetually  rising 
and  falling.  We  soon  got  out  of  the  district  or  zone 
that  had  been  swept  by  the  preceding  day's  hurri- 
cane, and  after  nearly  an  hour's  ride,  we  paused,  on 
the  crest  of  a  deep  descent,  at  whose  foot,  our  guides 
informed  us,  lay  the  land  of  promise,  the  long-looked- 
for  rancho.  While  the  muleteers  saw  to  the  girths  of 
their  beasts,  and  gave  the  due  equilibrium  to  the  bag- 
gage, before  commencing  the  downward  march,  Row- 
ley and  I  sat  upon  our  mules,  wrapped  in  large  Mexican 
eapas^  gaziug  at  the  morning-star  as  it  sank  down,  and 
grew  gradually  paler  and  fainter.  Suddenly  the  sky 
brightened,  and  a  brilliant  beam  appeared  —  a  point  no 
bigger  than  a  star,  yet  not  a  star,  but  of  far  rosier  hue. 
The  next  moment  a  second  sparkling  spot  appeared, 
near  to  the  first,  which  now  swelled  out  into  a  sort  of 
fiery  tongue,  that  licked  round  the  silvery  summit  of 
the  snow-clad  mountain.  As  we  gazed,  ^vq — ten — 
twenty  hill-tops  were  tinged  with  the  same  rose-colored 
glow ;  the  next  moment  Ihey  were  like  fiery  banners 

spread  out  against  the  heavens,  while  sparkling  tongues 
13 


290  TWO   NIGHTS    IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.      ' 

and  rays  of  golden  light  flashed  and  flamed  round  them^ 
Bpringing  meteor-like  from  one  mountain  summit  to 
another,  lighting  them  up  like  a  succession  of  beacons. 
Scarcely  Rvq  minutes  had  elapsed  since  the  distant 
pinnacles  of  the  mountains  had  appeared  to  us  as 
huge,  phantom-like  figures  of  a  silvery  white,  dimly 
marked  out  upon  a  dark,  star-spangled  ground  ;  now 
the  whole  immense  chain  blazed  like  volcanoes  cov- 
ered with  glowing  lava,  rising  out  of  the  darkness 
that  still  lingered  on  their  flanks  and  bases,  visible 
and  wonderful  witnesses  to  the  omnipotence  of  ITim 
who  said, "  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light." 

Above,  all  was  broad  day,  flaming  sunlight ;  below, 
all  black  night.  Here  and  there  streams  of  light 
burst  through  clefts  and  openings  in  the  mountains, 
and  then  ensued  an  extraordinary  kind  of  conflict. 
The  shades  of  darkness  lived  and  moved,  struggled 
against  the  bright  beams  that  fell  among  them  and 
broke  their  masses,  forcing  them  down  the  wooded 
heights,  tearing  them  asunder  and  dispersing  them 
like  tissues  of  cobweb ;  so  that,  successively,  as  by 
a  stroke  of  enchantment,  were  revealed  first  the  deep 
indigo  blue  of  the  tamarinds  and  chicozapotes,  then 
the  bright  green  of  the  sugar-canes,  lower  down  the 
darker  green  of  the  nopal-trees,  lower  still  the  white 


TWO   NIGHTS   IN   SOUTHERN    MEXICO.  291 

and  green  and  gold  and  bright  yellow  of  the  orange 
and  citron  groves,  and  lowest  of  all,  the  stately  fan- 
palms,  and  date-palms,  and  bananas — all  glittering 
with  millions  of  dewdrops,  that  covered  them  like  a 
gauze  vail  embroidered  with  diamonds  and  rubies. 
And  still,  in  the  very  next  valley,  all  was  darkness. 

We  sat  silent  and  motionless,  gazing  at  this  scene 
of  enchantment. 

Presently  the  sun  rose  higher,  and  a  flood  of  light 
illumined  the  whole  valley,  which  lay  some  few  hun- 
dred feet  below  us — a  perfect  garden,  such  as  no 
northern  imagination  could  picture  forth ;  a  garden 
of  sugar-canes,  cotton,  and  nopal-trees,  intermixed 
with  thickets  of  pomegranate  and  strawberry-trees, 
and  groves  of  orange,  ^g,  and  lemon,  giants  of  their 
kind,  shooting  up  to  a  far  greater  height  than  the  oak 
attains  in  the  States  —  every  tree  a  perfect  hothouse, 
a  pyramid  of  flowers,  covered  with  bloom  and  blos- 
som to  its  topmost  spray.  All  was  light,  and  fresh- 
ness, and  beauty ;  every  object  danced  and  rejoiced 
in  the  clear,  elastic,  golden  atmosphere.  It  was  an 
earthly  paradise,  fresh  from  the  hand  of  its  Creator, 
and  at  first  we  could  discover  no  sign  of  man  or  his 
works.  Presently,  however,  we  discerned  the  village, 
lying   almost   at  our  feet,  the  small  stone  houses 


292  TWO  NIGHTS  IN   SOUTHERN   MEXICO.  * 

overgrown  with  flowers  and  imbedded  in  trees ;  so 
that  scarcely  a  square  foot  of  roof  or  wall  was  to  be 
seen.  Even  the  church  was  concealed  in  a  garland  of 
orange-trees,  and  had  lianas  and  star-flowered  creep- 
ers climbing  over  and  dangling  from  it,  up  as  high 
as  the  slender  cross  that  surmounted  its  square  white 
tower.  As  we  gazed,  the  first  sign  of  life  appeared 
in  the  village.  A  puff  of  blue  smoke  rose  curling 
and  spiral  from  a  chimney,  and  the  matin  bell  rung 
out  its  summons  to  prayer.  Our  Mexicans  fell  on 
their  knees  and  crossed  themselves,  repeating  their 
Ave-Marias.  We  involuntarily  took  off'  our  hats, 
and  whispered  a  thanksgiving  to  the  God  who  had 
been  with  us  in  the  hour  of  peril,  and  was  now  so 
visible  to  us  in  his  works. 

The  Mexicans  rose  from  their  knees. 

"  Vamos  /  Senores^^  said  one  of  them,  laying  his 
hand  on  the  bridle  of  my  mule.  "  To  the  rancho^ 
to  breakfast." 

We  rode  slowly  down  into  the  valley.  » 


9l  ^k^k^  i^  ^^e  Ilrople^- 


CHAPTEEl. 

THE  FUGITIVE. 

The  year  1816  was  a  disastrous  one  for  tLe  cause 
of  South  American  independence.  The  loss  of  the 
battle  of  Cachiri,  following  close  upon  the  equally 
unlucky  afiiiirs  of  Puerta,  Araguita,  and  Alto  de 
Tanumba,  crushed  for  a  time  the  hopes  of  the  pat- 
riots. Their  sufferings  were  great — their  prospects 
in  the  highest  degree  gloomy. 

On  a  November  morning,  of  the  above-named 
year,  about  half-an-hour  before  daybreak,  the  door 
of  an  obscure  house  in  the  calzada  of  Guadalupe,  at 
the  Havannah,  was  cautiously  opened,  and  a  man 
put  out  his  head,  and  gazed  up  and  down  the  street 
as  if  to  assure  himself  that  no  one  was  near.  All 
was  silence  and  solitude  at  that  early  hour,  and  pres- 
ently the  door,  opening  wider,  gave  egress  to  a  young 


204  A  SKETCH  IN  T3E  TKOPICS. 

man  muffled  in  a  shabby  cloak,  who,  with  hurried 
but  stealthy  step,  took  the  direction  of  the  port. 
Hastening  noiselessly  through  the  deserted  streets 
and  lanes,  he  soon  reached  the  quay,  upon  which 
were  numerous  storehouses  of  sugar  and  other  mer- 
chandise, and  piles  of  dye-wood,  awaiting  shipment. 
Upon  approaching  one  of  the  latter,  the  young  man 
gave  a  low  whistle,  and  the  next  instant  a  figure 
glided  from  between  two  huge  heaps  of  logwood, 
and,  seizing  his  hand,  drew  him  into  the  hiding- 
place  from  which  it  had  emerged. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  elapsed,  and  the  first  faint 
tinge  of  day  just  appeared,  when  the  noise  of  oars 
was  heard,  and  presently,  in  the  gray  light,  a  boat 
was  seen  darting  out  of  the  mist  that  hung  over  the 
water.  As  it  neared  the  quay,  the  two  men  left 
their  concealment,  and  one  of  them,  pointing  to  the 
person  who  sat  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  pressed  his 
companion's  hand,  and,  hurrying  away,  soon  disap- 
peared in  the  labyrinth  of  goods  and  warehouses. 

The  boat  came  up  to  the  stairs.  Of  the  three  per- 
sons it  contained,  two  sailors,  who  had  been  rowing, 
remained  in  it ;  the  third,  whose  dress  and  appear- 
ance were  those  of  the  master  of  a  merchant- vessel, 
sprang  on  shore,  and  walked  in  the  direction  of  the 


THE  FUGITIVE.  295 

town.    As  he  passed  before  the  logwood,  the  strangei 
stepped  out  and  accosted  him. 

The  seaman's  first  movement,  and  not  an  nnnatu- 
ral  one,  considering  he  was  at  the  Havannah,  and  the 
day  not  yet  broken,  was  to  half-draw  his  cutlass  from 
its  scabbard;  but  the  next  moment  he  let  it  drop 
back  again.  The  appearance  of  the  person  who  ad- 
dressed him  was,  if  not  altogether  prepossessing,  at 
least  not  much  calculated  to  inspire  alarm.  He  was 
a  young  man  of  handsome  and  even  noble  counte- 
nance, but  pale  and  sickly  looking,  like  one  bowed 
down  by  sorrow  and  illness. 

"Are  you  the  captain  of  the  Philadelphian  schooner 
that  is  on  the  point  of  sailing?"  inquired  he  anxiously. 

The  seaman  looked  hard  in  the  young  man's  face, 
and  answered  in  the  afiirmative.  The  stranger's 
eyes  sparkled. 

"  Can  I  ha  /e  a  passage  for  myself,  a  friend,  and 
two  children! "  demanded  he. 

The  sailor  hesitated  before  ho  replied,  and  again 
scanned  his  interlocutor  with  his  keen  gray  eyes. 
There  was  s  >mething  inconsistent,  not  to  say  suspi- 
cious, in  the  stranger's  whole  appearance.  His  cloak 
was  ctaiivyl  xnd  shabby,  and  his  words  were  humble ; 
but  thero  f7is  a  fire  in  his  eye  that  flashed  forth  in 


A   SKETCH   IN   THK   TROPICS. 

spite  o  nimself,  and  his  voice  had  that  particular 
tone  which  the  habit  of  command  alone  gives.  The 
result  of  the  sailor's  scrutiny  was  unfavorable,  and 
he  shook  his  head  negatively.  The  young  man 
gasped  for  breath,  and  drew  a  well-filled  purse  from 
his  bosom. 

"I  will  pay  beforehand,"  said  he;  "1  will  pay 
whatever  you  ask." 

The  American  started ;  the  contrast  was  too  strik- 
ing between  the  aj^plicant's  beggarly  exterior  and 
his  heavy  j)urse  and  large  offers.  He  shook  his  head 
more  decidedly  than  before.  The  stranger  bit  his 
lip  till  the  blood  came,  his  breast  heaved,  his  whole 
manner  was  that  of  one  who  abandons  himself  to 
despair.    The  sailor  felt  a  touch  of  compassion. 

"Young  man,"  said  he  in  Spanish,  "you  are  no 
merchant.    What  do  you  want  at  Philadelphia?" 

"I  want  to  go  to  Philadelphia.  Here  is  my  pas- 
sage-money, here  my  pass.  You  are  captain  of  the 
schooner.    What  do  you  require  more?" 

There  was  a  wild  vehemence  in  tht  tone  and  man- 
ner in  which  these  last  words  were  spoken,  that  indis- 
posed the  seaman  still  more  against  his  would-be 
passenger.  Again  he  shook  his  head,  and  was  about 
to  pass  on.    The  yoking  man  seized  his  arm. 


THE  FUGmVE.  297 

"For  the  love  of  God,  captain,  take  me  with  you! 
Take  my  unhappy  wife  and  my  poor  children." 

"Wife  and  children!  repeated  the  captain.  "Have 
you  a  wife  and  children  ? " 

The  words  had  brought  home  and  its  endearments 
vividly  to  the  seaman's  memory,  and  had  touched  a 
chord  that  readily  vibrates  in  the  heart  either  of 
American  or  Englishman. 

The  stranger  groaned. 

"You  have  committed  no  crime?  yon  are  not  flying 
from  the  ann  of  justice?"  asked  the  captain  8har}>ly. 

"So  may  God  help  me,  no  crime  whatever  have  I 
committed ! "  replied  the  young  man,  raising  his  hand 
toward  heaven. 

"Then  I  will  take  you.  Keep  your  money  till  you 
are  on  board.    In  an  hour  at  furthest  I  weigh  anchor." 

Th^  stranger  answered  nothing,  but,  as  if  relieved 
from  some  dreadful  anxiety,  drew  a  deep  breath,  and 
with  a  grateful  look  to  heaven  hurried  from  the  spot. 

"When  Captain  Keady,  of  the  smart-sailing,  Balti- 
more-built schooner,  "The  Speedy  Tom,"  returned  on 
board  his  vessel,  and  descended  into  the  cabin,  he  was 
met  by  his  new  passenger,  on  whose  arm  hung  a  lady 
of  dazzling  beauty  and  grace.    She  was  very  plainly 

dressed,   as    were    also    two    lovely    children    who 
13* 


298  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

accompanied  her  ;  but  their  clothes  were  of  the  finest 
materials,  and  the  elegance  of  their  appearance  con- 
trasted strangely  with  the  rags  and  wretchedness  of 
their  husband  and  father.  Lying  on  a  chest,  however, 
Captain  Keady  saw  a  pelisse  and  two  children's  cloaks 
of  the  shabbiest  description,  and  which  the  new- 
comers had  evidently  just  taken  off. 

This  disguise  and  mystery  revived  the  seaman's 
suspicions ;  and  a  doubt  again  arose  in  his  mind  as 
to  the  propriety  of  taking  passengers  who  came  on 
board  under  such  equivocal  circumstances.  A  feeling 
of  compassion,  however,  added  to  the  graceful  man- 
ners and  sweet  voice  of  the  lady,  decided  him  to 
persevere  in  his  original  intention ;  and  politely  re- 
questing her  to  make  herself  at  home  in  the  cabin,  he 
returned  on  deck.  Ten  minutes  later  the  anchor  was 
weighed,  and  the  schooner  in  motion.  * 

The  sun  had  risen  and  dissipated  the  morning  mist. 
Some  distance  astern  of  the  fast-advancing  schooner 
rose  the  streets  and  houses  of  the  Havannah,  and  the 
forest  of  masts  occupying  its  port;  to  the  right 
frowned  the  castle  of  the  Molo,  whose  threatening 
embrasures  the  vessel  rapidly  approached.  Husband 
and  wife  stood  upon  the  cabin  stairs,  gazing  with 
breathless  anxiety  at  the  fortress. 


THE  FUGITIVE.  299 

As  the  schooner  arrived  opposite  the  castle,  a  small 
postern,  leading  out  upon  the  jetty,  was  opened,  and 
an  officer  and  six  soldiers  issued  forth.  Four  men, 
who  had  been  lying  on  their  oars  in  a  boat  at  the  jetty 
stairs,  sprang  up.  The  soldiers  jumped  in,  their 
bayonets  glittering  in  the  early  sunbeams,  and  the 
rowers  pulled  in  the  direction  of  the  schooner. 

^^  Jesus  Maria  y  Jose!^^  exclaimed  the  lady. 

^^Madre  de  Dios!^^  groaned  her  husband. 

At  this  moment  the  fort  made  a  signal. 

"  Up  with  the  helm ! "  shouted  Captain  Keady. 

The  schooner  rounded  to ;  the  boat  came  flying 
over  the  water,  and  in  a  few  moments  was  alongside. 
The  soldiers  and  their  commander  stepped  on  board. 

The  latter  was  a  very  young  man,  possessed  of  a 
truly  Spanish  countenance — grave  and  stem.  In  a 
few  words  he  desired  the  captain  to  produce  his  ship's 
papers,  and  parade  his  seamen  and  passengers.  The 
papers  were  handed  to  him  without  an  observation  ; 
he  glanced  his  eye  over  them,  inspected  the  sailors 
one  after  the  other,  and  then  looked  in  the  direction 
of  the  cabin,  expecting  the  appearance  of  the  passen- 
gers, who  at  length  came  on  deck,  the  stranger  carry- 
ing one  of  the  children,  and  his  wife  the  other.  The 
Spanish  officer  started. 


300  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

"Do  you  know  that  you  have  a  state  criminal 
on  board?"  thundered  he  to  the  captain.  "What 
means  this  ? " 

^''Santa  Yirgen!^^  exclaimed  the  lady,  and  fell 
fainting  into  her  husband's  arms.  There  was  a  mo- 
ment's deep  silence.  All  present  seemed  touched  by 
the  misfortunes  of  this  youthful  pair.  The  young 
officer  sprang  to  the  assistance  of  the  husband,  and, 
relieving  him  of  the  child,  enabled  him  to  give  his 
attention  to  his  wife,  whom  he  laid  gently  down  upon 
the  deck. 

"  I  am  grieved  at  the  necessity,"  said  the  officer, 
"but  you  must  return  with  me." 

The  American  captain,  who  had  contemplated 
this  scene  apparently  quite  unmoved,  now  ejected 
from  his  mouth  a  huge  quid  of  tobacco,  replaced  it 
by  another,  and  then  stepping  up  to  the  officer, 
touched  him  on  the  arm,  and  offered  him  the  pass  he 
had  received  from  his  •  passengers.  The  Spaniard 
waved  him  back  almost  with  disgust.  There  was, 
in  fact,  something  very  unpleasant  in  the  apathy 
and  indifference  with  which  the  Yankee  contem- 
plated the  scene  of  despair  and  misery  before  him. 
Such  cold-bloodedness  was  premature  and  unnatural 
HX  a.  man  who  could  not  yet  have  seen  more  than 


THE   FUGITIVE.  301 

five-and-twenty  summers.  A  close  observer,  bow- 
ever,  would  bave  remarked  tbat  the  muscles  of  bis 
face  were  agitated  by  a  slight  convulsive  twitching, 
when  at  that  moment  bis  mate  stepped  forward 
and  whispered  to  bim.  Approaching  the  Spaniard 
for  the  second  time,  Eeadj  invited  bim  to  partake 
of  a  slight  refreshment  in  bis  cabin,  a.  courtesy 
which  it  is  usual  for  the  captains  of  merchant- 
vessels  to  pay  to  the  visiting  officer.  The  Spaniard 
accepted,  and  they  went  below. 

The  steward  was  busy  covering  the  cabin  table 
with  plates  of  Boston  crackers,  olives,  and  almonds, 
and  be  then  uncorked  a  bottle  of  fine  old  Madeira, 
which  looked  like  liquid  gold  as  it  gurgled  into 
the  glasses.  Captain  Keady  was  quite  a  difierent 
person  in  the  cabin  and  on  deck.  Throwing  aside 
bis  dry,  say-little  manner,  be  was  now  good  humor 
and  civility  personified,  and  lavished  on  his  guest 
all  those  obliging  attentions  which  no  one  better 
knows  the  use  of  than  a  Yankee,  when  be  wishes  to 
administer  a  dose  of  what  be  himself  would  call 
"soft  sawder."  Ready  soon  persuaded  the  officer 
of  his  entire  guiltlessness  in  the  unpleasant  affair 
tbat  bad  just  occurred ;  and  the  Spaniard  told  him 
by  no  means  to  make   himself  uneasy,  that    the 


803  A   SKETCH   m  THE  TROPICS. 

pass  had  been  given  for  another  person,  and  that 
the  prisoner  was  a  man  of  great  importance,  whom 
he  considered  himself  excessively  lucky  to  have 
been  able  to  recapture. 

Most  Spaniards  like  a  glass  of  Madeira,  particu- 
larly when  olives  serve  as  the  whet.  The  American's 
wine  was  first-rate,  and  the  officer  found  himself 
particularly  comfortable  in  the  cabin.  He  did  not 
forget,  however,  to  desire  that  the  prisoner's  bag- 
gage might  be  placed  in  the  boat,  and,  with  a 
courteous  apology  for  leaving  him  a  moment  alone, 
Captain  Ready  hastened  to  give  the  necessary 
orders. 

When  the  captain  reached  the  deck,  a  heart- 
rending scene  presented  itself  to  him.  His  unfor- 
tunate passenger  was  seated  on  one  of  the  hatch- 
ways, despair  legibly  written  on  his  pale  features. 
The  eldest  child  had  climbed  up  on  his  knee,  and 
looked  wistfully  into  its  father's  face,  and  his  wife 
hung  round  his  neck,  sobbing  audibly.  A  young 
negress,  who  had  come  on  board  with  them,  held 
the  other  child,  an  infant  a  few  months  old,  in  her 
arms.     Eeady  took  the  prisoner's  hand. 

"I  hate  tyranny,"  said  he,  "as  every  American 
must.    Had  you  confided  your  posjtion  to  me.  a 


THE  FUGniVE.  803 

few  hours  sooner,  I  would  have  got  yon  safe  oft'. 
But  now  I  see  nothing  to  be  done.  We  are  under 
the  cannon  of  the  fort,  which  could  sink  us  in  ten 
seconds.  Who  and  what  are  you?  Say  quickly,  for 
time  is  precious." 

"I  am  a  Columbian  by  birth,"  replied  the  young 
man,  "  an  ofiicer  in  the  Patriot  army.  I  was  taken 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Cachiri,  and  brought  to  the 
navannah  with  several  companions  in  misfortune. 
My  wife  and  children  were  allowed  to  follow  me,  for 
the  Spaniards  were  not  sorry  to  have  one  of  the  first 
families  of  Columbia  entirely  in  their  power.  Four 
months  I  lay  in  a  frightful  dungeon,  with  rats  and 
reptiles  for  sole  companions.  It  is  a  miracle  that  I 
am  still  alive.  Out  of  seven  hundred  prisoners,  but 
a  handful  of  emaciated  objects  remain  to  testify  to 
the  barbarous  cruelty  of  our  captors.  A  fortnight 
back  they  took  me  out  of  my  prison  a  mere  skeleton, 
in  order  to  preserve  my  life,  anc^  quartered  me  in  a 
house  in  the  city.  Two  days  ago  I  heard  that  I  vas 
to  return  to  the  dungeon.  It  was  my  death-warrant, 
for  I  could  not  live  another  week  in  that  frightful 
cell.  A  true  friend,  in  spite  of  danger,  and  by  dint 
of  gold,  procured  me  the  pass  of  a  Spaniard  dead 
of  the  yellow  fever.    By  means  of  that  paper  and 


804:  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

by  your  assistance,  we  trusted  to  escape.  Captain ! " 
said  the  young  man,  starting  to  bis  feet,  and  clasping 
Eeady's  band,  bis  bollow,  sunken  eye  gleaming  wildly 
as  be  spoke,  "my  only  bope  is  in  you.  If  you  give 
me  up,  I  am  a  dead  man,  for  I  bave  sworn  to  perish 
rather  than  return  to  the  miseries  of  my  prison.  I 
fear  not  death — I  am  a  soldier;  but  alas  for  my 
poor  wife,  my  helpless,  deserted  children ! " 

The  Yankee  captain  passed  bis  band  across  bis 
forehead  with  the  air  of  one  greatly  perplexed,  then 
turned  away  without  a  word,  and  walked  to  the 
other  end  of  the  vessel.  Giving  a  glance  upward 
and  around  him  that  seemed  to  take  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  sky,  and  the  probabilities  of  good  or  bad 
weather,  he  ordered  some  of  the  sailors  to  bring  the 
luggage  of  the  passenger  upon  deck,  but  not  to  put 
it  into  the  boat.  He  told  the  steward  to  give  the 
soldiers  and  boatmen  a  couple  of  bottles  of  rum,  and 
then,  after  whispering  for  a  few  seconds  in  the  ear 
of  his  mate,  be  approached  the  cabin  stairs.  As  be 
passed  the  Columbian  family,  be  said  in  a  low  voice, 
and  without  looking  at  them, 

"Trust  in  Him  who  helps  when  need  is  at  the 
greatest." 

Scarcely  had  the  Captain  uttered  the  words,  when 


THE  FUGITIVE.  305 

the  Spanish  officer  sprang  up  the  cabin  stairs,  and 
as  soon  as  he  saw  the  prisoners,  ordered  them  into 
the  boat.  Keady,  however,  interfered,  and  begged 
him  to  allow  his  unfortunate  passenger  to  take  a 
farewell  glass  before  he  left  the  vessel.  To  this  the 
young  officer  good-naturedly  consented,  and  himself 
led  the  way  into  the  cabin. 

They  took  their  places  at  the  table,  and  the  captain 
opened  a  fresh  bottle,  at  the  very  first  glass  of  which 
the  Spaniard's  eye  glistened  and  his  lips  smacked. 
The  conversation  became  more  and  more  lively; 
Ready  spoke  Spanish  fluently,  and  gave  proof  of 
a  jovialty  which  no  one  would  have  suspected  to 
belong  to  his  character,  dry  and  saturnine  as  his 
manner  usually  was.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  or 
more  had  passed  in  this  way,  when  the  schooner 
gave  a  sudden  lurch,  and  the  glasses  and  bottles 
jingled  and  clattered  together  on  the  table.  The 
Spaniard  started  up. 

"Captain!"  cried  he  furiously,  "the  schooner  is 
sailing ! " 

"Certainly,"  replied  the  captain,  very  coolly. 
"You  surely  did  not  expect,  Senor,  that  we  were 
going  to  miss  the  finest  breeze  that  ever  filled  a 
sail?" 


306  '     A  SKETCH   m  THE  TROPICS. 

Without  answering,  the  officer  rushed  upon  deck, 
and  looked  in  the  direction  of  the  Molo.  Thej  had 
left  the  fort  full  two  miles  behind  them.  The 
Spaniard  literally  foamed  at  the  mouth. 

"Soldiers!"  vociferated  he,  "seize  the  captain 
and  the  prisoners.  We  are  betrayed.  And  you, 
steersman,  put  about." 

And  betrayed  they  assuredly  were ;  for  while 
the  officer  had  been  quaffing  his  Madeira,  and  the 
soldiers  and  boatmen  regaling  themselves  with  the 
steward's  rum,  sail  had  been  made  on  the  vessel 
without  noise  or  bustle,  and  favored  by  the  breeze, 
she  was  rapidly  increasing  her  distance  from  land. 
Ready  preserved  the  utmost  composure. 

"  Betrayed  ! "  repeated  he,  replying  to  the  vehe- 
ment ejaculation  of  the  Spaniard.  "Thank  God  we 
are  Americans,  and  have  no  trust  to  break,  nothing 
to  betray.  As  to  this  prisoner  of  yours,  however, 
he  must  remain  here." 

"Here!"  sneered  the  Spaniard  —  "we'll  soon  see 
about  that,  you  treacherous  " 

"Here!"  quietly  interrupted  the  captain.  "Do 
not  give  yourself  needless  trouble,  Senor;  your 
soldiers'  guns,  as  you  may  see,  are  in  our  hands, 
and  my  six  sailors  well  provided  with  pistols  and 


THE  FUGITIVE.  307 

cutlasses.  "We  eight  are  more  than  a  match  for  you 
ten,  and  at  the  first  suspicious  movement  you  make, 
"we  fire  on  you." 

The  officer  looked  around,  and  his  jaw  dropped 
when  he  beheld  his  soldiers'  muskets  piled  upon 
the  deck,  and  guarded  by  two  well-armed  and 
determined-looking  sailors. 

"You  would  not  dare" — exclaimed  he. 

"Indeed  would  I,"  replied  Keady ;  "but  I  hope 
you  will  not  force  me  to  it.  You  must  remain 
a  few  hours  longer  my  guest,  and  then  you  can 
return  to  port  in  your  boat.  You  will  get  off  with 
a  month's  arrest,  and  as  compensation,  you  will 
have  the  satisfaction  of  having  delivered  a  brave 
enemy  from  despair  and  death." 

All  this  was  spoken  quietly  and  gravely,  but,  at 
the  same  time  with  such  resolute  decision  of  man- 
ner, that  the  Spaniard  winced  with  vexation.  Yet 
he  made  one  more  attempt  to  intimidate  his 
captor. 

"Captain!  captain  I"  cried  he,  "this  is  dangerous 
jesting ;  for  of  course,  it  is  but  a  jest." 

"We  Americans  are  not  much  given  to  jesting,", 
carelessly  replied  the  captain. 

"  Do  you  know  that  you  are  committing  a  capital 


308  A   SKETCH  IN   TBpE  TROPICS. 

crime — incurring  the  punishment  of  death?"  cried 
the  Spaniard  vehemently. 

"Were  I  a  Spaniard,  yes;  as  an  American,  no," 
said  the  captain,  dipping  his  finger,  with  a  gesture 
of  indescribably  dry  humor,  into  a  bucket  of  sea- 
water,  which  the  steward  just  then  lifted  over  the 
ship's  side.  "We  are  on  the  sea,  on  the  American 
sea,  on  which  you  well  know  that  we  Americans 
are  masters,  and  far  too  proud  to  let  ourselves  be 
dictated  to  by  any  nation  whatever.  Be  reasonable 
and  humane,"  he  added  in  a  more  friendly  tone. 
"This  Patriot  officer  has  committed  no  crime,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  has  done  his  duty — has  done 
what  our  Washingtons,  Putnams,  Greenes,  and 
thousands  of  our  revolutionary  heroes  also  did  — 
has  fought  for  his  country's  freedom;  and  you, 
instead  of  treating  him,  an  unhappy  prisoner,  with 
humanity,  have  tortured  him  to  a  skeleton!  Look 
at  him,  and  say  if  I  must  not  have  a  heart  harder 
than  stone  to  deliver  him  into  the  clutches  of  your 
inquisitors.    He  shall  not  go  back." 

The  officer  ground  his  teeth  togethei,  but  even 
yet  he  did  not  give  up  all  hopes  of  getting  out  of 
the  scrape.  Kesistance  was  evidently  not  to  be 
thought  of,  his  men's  muskets  being  in  the  power 


THE  FUGITIVE.  309 

of  the  Americans,  who,  with  cocked  pistols  and 
naked  cutlasses,  stood  on  guard  over  them.  The 
soldiers  themselves  did  not  seem  very  full  of  fight, 
and  the  boatmen  were  negroes,  and  consequently 
non-combatants.  But  there  were  several  trincadores 
and  armed  cutters  cruising  about,  and  if  he  could 
manage  to  hail  or  make  a  signal  to  one  of  them, 
the  schooner  would  be  brought  to,  and  the  tables 
turned.  He  gazed  earnestly  at  a  sloop  that  just 
then  crossed  them  at  no  gi-eat  distance,  staggering 
in  toward  the  harbor  under  press  of  sail.  The 
American  read  his  thoughts. 

"Do  me  the  honor,  Senor,"  said  he,  "to  partake 
of  a  slight  dejeuner-a-la-fourchette  in  the  cabin. 
We  shall  also  hope  for  the'  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany at  dinner.  Supper  you  will  probably  eat  at 
home." 

And  so  saying,  he  motioned  courteously  toward 
the  cabin  stairs.  The  Spaniard  looked  in  the  sea- 
man's face,  and  read  in  its  decided  expression^  and 
in  the  slight  smile  of  intelligence  that  played  upon 
it,  that  he  must  not  hope  either  to  resist  or  outwit 
his  polite  but  peremptory  entertainer.  So  making 
a  virtue  of  necessity,  he  descended  into  the  cabin. 

Left  to  themselves,  husband  and  wife  fell,  with 


810  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS 

an  inarticulate  but  joyful  cry,  into  each  other's 
arms.  Their  hearts  were  too  full  for  words;  their 
lips  refused  utterance  to  the  feelings  of  joy  and 
thankfulness  that  overpowered  them.  They  clung 
sobbing  to  each  other,  as  closely  clasped  as  if  they 
never  again  would  separate;  then  they  laughed 
out  loud,  delirious  with  delight,  murmured  broken 
sentences  of  affection,  and  gazed  back  shudderingly, 
and  with  eyes  fixed  and  distended,  at  the  cruel 
Havannah — at  the  horrible  Molo. 

Gradually  the  endless  masses  of  the  city,  the 
confused  chaos  of  sails,  ropes  and  masts,  and  the 
grim  Molo  itself,  receded  from  the  view  of  the 
fugitives.  A  glittering  streak  unrolled  itself  be- 
tween them  and  the  city,  at  first  no  wider  than  a 
silvered  ribbon,  but  speedily  increasing  in  length 
and  breadth.  With  ecstasy  inexpressible  they 
watched  its  rapid  growth;  and  as  the  narrow 
strip  grew  into  a  broad  ocean-mirror,  it  seemed  to 
thenar  a  sign  from  heaven,  promising  deliverance 
and  announcing  safety.  On  went  the  schooner; 
fainter  and  fainter  became  the  outlines  of  city  and 
narbor.  Already  the  masts  of  the  vessels  were 
invisible ;  only  the  pennons  on  their  top-masts  still 
fluttered  like  sea-birds  at  the  far-distant    horizon. 


•  THE  FUGITIVE.  311 

The  south-west  breeze  freshened,  and  the  lively 
schooner  was  making  her  ten  knots  an  hour.  Ab- 
sorbed in  blissful  feelings,  the  fugitives  heeded  not 
what  passed  around  them,  felt  no  fatigue,  were  in- 
sensible to  hunger  and  thirst.  The  voice  of  the 
Spanish  officer  on  the  cabin  stairs  first  roused  them 
from  a  state  that  resembled  a  bewildering  dream. 

The  young  Spaniard  was  in  all  the  better  humor 
for  the  dejeuner-a-la-fourchette.  His  national  grav- 
ity had  unbent,  and  he  was  remarkably  sociable 
and  talkative.  He  was  laughing  as  he  ascended 
the  stairs,  and  assuring  the  captain  that  he  had 
enjoyed  the  trip  and^was  well  pleased  to  have 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Yankee-Americano, 
although  the  pleasure  was  likely  to  cost  him  rather 
dear — a  couple  of  months  in  the  fortress,  at  the 
very  least.  All  he  hoped  was,  that  if  ever,  in  the 
varying  chances  of  war,  he  should  find  himself  in 
a  similar  predicament  to  the  Columbian,  he  might 
also  have  the  luck  to  meet  with  a  Yankee  to  help 
him  at  a  pinch.  Frank  and  friendly  was  the  cap- 
tain's reply.  Whoever  had  seen  him  then,  would 
hardly  have  recognized  the  man  whose  aspect,  two 
short  hours  previously,  had  been  so  gloomy  and 
unprepossessing.    The  consciousness  of  a  good  and 


S12  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

generous  action  lit  up  his  manly,  honest  countenance 
and  gleamed  joyfully  in  his  eyes  as,  arm  in  arm  with 
the  Spaniard,  he  paced  his  schooner's  deck.  ]S"oble 
indeed,  worthy  of  a  hero  or  a  demigod,  did  his  coun- 
tenance appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  rescued  patriot  and 
his  happy  wife. 

But  the  schooner  was  now  twenty  miles  from  the 
Havannah ;  the  Molo  could  hardly  be  discerned.  It 
was  time  to  part.  The  distance  was  great  enough  to 
guarantee  the  escape  of  the  fugitives,  and  as  great  as 
was  prudent  for  those  to  come  who  had  to  return  to 
shore  in  an  open  boat.  The  soldiers  were  ordered 
into  their's ;  the  officer,  as  hg  stepped  over  the  side, 
shook  the  captain  heartily  by  the  hand  ;  the  negroes 
dipped  their  oars  into  the  water,  and  soon,  from  the 
schooner's  deck,  the  boat  was  visible  but  as  a  mere 
speck  upon  the  vast  expanse  of  ocean. 

The  voyage  was  prosperous,  and  in  eleven  days  the 
vessel  reached  its  destination.  The  Columbian  officer, 
his  wife  and  children,  were  received  with  the  utmost 
kindness  and  hospitality  by  the  young  and  handsome 
wife  of  Captain  Eeady,  in  whose  house  they  took  up 
their  quarters.  They  remained  there  two  months, 
living  in  the  most  retired  manner,  with  the  double 
object  of  economizing  their  scanty  resources,  and  of 


THE  FUGITIVE.  313 

avoiding  the  notice  of  the  PMladelphians,  who  at 
that  time  viewed  the  patriots  of  Southern  America 
with  no  very  favorable  eye.  The  insurrection  against 
the  Spaniards  had  injured  the  commerce  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Spanish  colonies,  and  the 
purely  mercantile  and  lucre-loving  spirit  of  the  Phil- 
adelphians  made  them  look  with  dislike  on  any 
circumstances  or  persons  who  caused  a  diminution 
of  their  trade  and  profits. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  two  months,  an  opportunity 
offered  of  a  vessel  going  to  Marguerite,  then  the  head- 
quarters of  the  patriots,  and  the  place  where  the  first 
expeditions  were  formed  under  Bolivar  against  the 
Spaniards.  Estoval  (that  was  the  name  by  which  the 
Columbian  officer  was  designated  in  his  passport) 
gladly  seized  the  opportunity,  took  a  grateful  and 
affectionate  leave  of  his  deliverer,  and  embarked  with 
his  wife  and  children.  They  had  been  several  days 
at  sea  before  they  remembered  that  they  had  forgotten 
to  tell  their  American  friends  their  real  name.  The. 
latter  never  inquired  it,  and  the  Estovals  being  accus- 
tomed to  address  one  another  by  their  Christian 
Dames,  it  had  never  been  mentioned. 

Meantime,-  the  good  seed  Captain  Eeady  had  sown, 

brought  the  honest  Yankee  but  a  sorry  harvest.    His 
14 


3M  A  SKETCH  m  THE  TROPICS. 

employers  had  small  sympathy  with  the  feelings  of 
humanity  which  had  induced  him  to  risk  carrying  off 
a  Spanish  state-prisoner  from  under  the  guns  of  a 
Spanish  battery.  Their  correspondents  at  the  Havan- 
nah  had  trouble  and  difficulty  on  account  of  the  affair, 
and  wrote  to  Philadelphia  to  complain  of  it.  Keady 
lost  his  ship,  and  could  only  obtain  from  his  employers 
certificates  of  character  of  so  ambiguous  and  unsatis- 
factory a  nature,  that  for  a  long  time  he  found  it 
impossible  to  get  the  command  of  another  vessel. 


#• 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BLOCKADE. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  March,  1825,  that  I  found 
myself  in  company  with  several  Americans  and 
Englishmen — for  the  most  part  masters  of  merchant 
vessels — seated  in  front  of  the  French  coflfee-house 
at  Lima.  The  subject  of  our  conversation  was  not  a 
very  pleasant  one  —  at  least  to  me.  Callao  was  at 
that  time  blockaded  by  the  patriots,  both  by  land 
and  water;  and  we  had  been  bound  thither  with 
Spanish  goods  on  board.  This  may  suffice  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  disagreeable  topic  of  our  discourse.  To 
be  more  explicit,  however,  I  may  mention  that  wc 
had  left  home  —  that  is  to  say,  Baltimore — in  the 
month  of  November,  1824,  had  sailed  to  Havannah^' 
got  rid  of  our  cargo,  taken  in  another — partly  on  our 
own,  partly  on  Spanish  government  account — and 
had  left  the  Havannah  on  the  1st  December,  just 
^H^lll^  days  before  the  famous  battle  Ayacucho,  the 


316  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

news  of  which  followed  on  our  heels,  but  never  over- 
took us,  so  that  we  sailed  round  the  South  American 
continent;  and  only  learned  them  on  reaching  the 
latitude  of  Callao,  when  it  was  too  late  to  turn  back. 

There  was  no  disguising  the  fact  that  we  were 
bound  to  Callao;  our  cargo — which  comprised 
twenty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  cigars,  for  the 
fortress  —  spoke  too  plainly ;  but  I  also  doubt 
whether,  even  if  disguise  had  been  possible,  my 
captain  would  have  been  withheld  from  the  attempt 
to  break  the  blockade.  He  had  attempted  the  feat 
four  years  previously,  when  the  patriot  fleet  was 
commanded  by  Cochrane,  and  had  succeeded — no 
easy  matter,  as  will  be  admitted  by  all  who  knew 
Cochrane.  Moreover,  he  had  his  own  Yankee 
notions — notions  which,  when  once  they  get  fixed 
in  a  Yankee  noddle  are  not  to  be  eradicated.  These 
notions  tended  to  prevent  the  fall  of  Callao.  Odd 
as  the  calculation  may  seem,  it  was  the  very  decided 
one,  not  only  of  my  captain,  but  o;f  all  his  country- 
men in  a  like  predicament.  They  appeared  more 
anxious  about  the  fate  of  the  fortress  than  about  the 
confiscation  of  their  cargoes.  This  sympathy  of 
American  republicans  with  the  duration  of  despotic 
power  is  easily  explained,  by  calling  to  mind  that, 


THE  BLOCKADE.  317 

■with  the  fall  of  Callao — Spain's  last  stronghold  in 
South  America  —  the  war  on  that  continent  would  be 
as  good  as  ended,  and  that  our  commerce  would  lose, 
by  the  consequent  pacification,  not  only  one  of  its 
most  profitable,  but  one  of  its  most  interesting 
branches.  I  say  one  of  its  most  interesting^  because, 
assuredly,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  it  was  less  the 
prospect  of  gain — although  this  is  never  indifferent 
to  an  American — than  the  fascination  of  the  innu- 
merable dangers  and  adventures  inseparable  from 
that  traflBc,  which  made  it  so  dear  to  our  citizens  and 
seamen.  Of  this  gainful  and  adventurous  commerce 
we  had  enjoyed  a  complete  monopoly — first,  because 
we  were  nearest,  and,  secondly,  because  we  produced 
exactly  the  articles  which  patriots  as  well  as  Span- 
iards most  needed.  As  was  to  be  expected  of  prudent 
people,  we  had  worked  this  monopoly  in  a  way  which 
made  a  prolongation  of  the  interesting  status  quo 
appear  extremely  desirable.  We  had  carried  flour 
and  meal  for  the  Spaniards,  when  the  Spaniards  were 
at  the  hungriest,  and  when  the  carriage  was  attended 
with  the  greatest  risk  and  with  proportionate  gain ; 
and  we  had  rendered  sintiJar  services  to  the  patriots, 
just  at  the  very  moment  when  these  had  nothing  left 
to  gnaw  at.    During  the  blockade,  it  was  of  course 


318  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TEOPICS. 

the  Spaniards  who  stood  in  greatest  need  of  supplies, 
and  it  seemed  all  the  juster  to  take  them  these,  that 
they  paid  very  well  for  them. 

It  was  while  tacking  to  and  fro  at  a  distance  of  four 
or  five  miles  from  the  entrance  of  the  harbor — 
watching,  in  reality,  an  opportunity  to  slip  in  —  that 
the  brig  "Perseverance"  Captain  Eeady,  of  which  I 
had  the  honor  to  be  supercargo,  was  hailed  and 
brought  to  by  a  patriot  cruiser.  "What  ensued 
showed  us  pretty  plainly  that  we  should  have 
diflficulty  in  getting  out  of  this  scrape.  Our  personal 
efiects  we  were  allowed  to  retain,  but  we  ourselves 
were  forthwith  sent  ashore  and  taken  to  Lima.  There 
we  had  remained  ever  since,  hearing  no  word  either 
of  brig  or  cargo.  In  the  latter  I  was  greatly  inter- 
ested, inasmuch  as  my  whole  capital — the  savings  of 
ten  years'  hard  desk-work — was  therein  embarked. 
The  captain  was  also  interested  to  the  extent  of  one 
fifth,  and  he  was  half  owner  of  the  brig. 

For  a  young  man,  on  his  first  spec,  undertaken 
with  the  modest  earnings  of  a  long  servitude,  it  was 
not  very  encouraging  to  find  his  hopes  of  fortune  thus 
unexpectedly  run  aground.  My  bark  was  evidently 
upon  a  sandbank,  with  but  little  hopes  of  getting 
afloat  again,  and   with  plenty   of  sharks  hovering 


THE  BLOCKADE.  319 

around,  greedy  for  the  spoil.  The  sharks  were  here 
represented  by  the  patriots,  who  to  my  eyes  were 
more  odious  than  any  sharks  that  ever  swam.  I 
hated  them  so  heartily  that  I  could  with  pleasure 
have  seen  them  all  hanged. 

Yery  different  was  the  temper  of  my  worthy 
captain.  He  displayed  infinite  philosophy ;  passed 
his  days  with  a  penknife  and  stick  in  his  hand, 
whittling  away,  Yankee  fashion ;  and,  when  he  had 
chopped  up  his  stick,  he  would  set  to  work  notching 
and  hacking  chair,  bench,  or  table.  When  spoken 
to  about  the  brig,  he  ground  his  teeth  a  little,  but 
said  nothing,  and  whittled  harder  than  before.  This 
was  consistent  with  his  character;  he  had  always 
passed  for  any  thing  but  talkative.  Weeks  had  often 
elapsed,  during  our  long  sea-voyage,  without  his  ut- 
tering a  word  except  to  give  the  needful  orders. 
So  confirmed  was  his  taciturnity,  so  little  inviting  his 
manner,  that  few  cared  to  importune  him  with  their 
conversation.  His  vinegar  physiognomy,  compressed 
lips  and  dark  gloomy  eyes — which  seemed  to  swim 
m  a  dull  cloud  like  those  of  a  drunken  man  —  were 
any  thing  but  prepossessing^"  and  people  thought 
twice  before  accosting  him.  His  redeeming  point 
was  his  voice.     When  he  did  speak,  it  was  music. 


320  A  SKETCH   IN  THE  TROPICS. 

Even  on  board  ship,  when  shouting  his  orders  through 
the  storm,  its  tones  were  mellow  and  harmonious,  as 
though  it  would  have  lulled  and  appeased  the  hurri- 
cane. There  was  an  indescribable  charm  in  that  man's 
voice.  When  he  spoke,  his  dark,  dry  countenance 
assumed  a  gentle  and  benevolent  expression,  and  this 
was  particularly  observable  when  he  did  anybody  a 
good  office.  His  features,  on  such  occasions,  beamed 
with  kindliness,  and  one  felt  irresistibly  led  to  like 
him.  Hence,  in  spite  of  his  peculiarities,  he  was 
generally  beloved  by  his  brother  captains,  and  by  all 
who  knew  him.  When  he  spoke,  his  words,  the  more 
prized  by  reason  of  their  rarity,  were  always  listened 
to  with  attention.  Rough  as  sea-faring  men  generally 
are,  I  remember  not  to  have  ever  heard  a  rough  word 
addressed  to  him,  and  often  his  mere  entrance  sufficed 
to  still  disputes. 

During  the  whole  time  he  had  sailed  for  the  Balti- 
more house,  in  whose  service  I  was,  he  had  shown 
himself  a  model  of  trustworthiness  and  seamanship, 
and  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of  his  employers.  It 
was  Sraid,  however,  that  his  early  life  had  not  been 
irreproachable ;  that  when  he  first,  and  as  a  very 
young  man,  had  command  of  a  Philadelphian  ship, 
something  had   occurred  which  had  thrown  a  stain 


THE   BLOCKADE.  321 

upon  his  character.  What  this  was,  I  had  never 
heard  very  distinctly  stated.  He  himself  was  far 
too  proud  and  reserved  to  give  an  explanation.  It 
was  said,  that  he  had  favored  the  escape  of  a  male 
factor,  and  ensnared  some  officers  who  were  sent  on 
hoard  his  vessel  to  seize  him.  All  this  was  very 
vague ;  but  what  was  positive  was  the  fact,  that  the 
owners  and  consignees  of  the  ship  he  then  com- 
manded had  had  much  trouble  about  the  matter,  and 
Ready  himself  remained  long  unemployed,  until  the 
rapid  increase  of  trade  between  the  United  [States 
and  the  infant  republics  of  South  America — attribu- 
table to  the  revival  of  the  war,  in  consequence  of 
Bolivar's  indefatigable  exertions  —  caused  seamen 
of  ability  to  be  in  much  request,  and  he  was  offered 
the  command  of  a  vessel  by  our  house,  although  not 
without  much  hesitation.  They  had  no  cause  to  re- 
pent it.  On  the  contrary,  the  captain's  skill,  dar- 
ing, and  activity  had  been  the  chief  cause  of  their 
acknowledged  pre-eminence  among  the  Baltimore 
houses  in  the  South  American  trade.  "When  his 
former  employers  knew  this,  they  made  him  very 
favorable  offers  to  re-enter  their  service,  but  he  ab- 
ruptly rejected   them.     And   it  was   observed   that, 

when  their  names  were  mentioned  before  him,  a  bitter 
14* 


A  SB3CTCH  IN  THE  TROriCS. 

smile  played  round  his  mouth,  succeeded  by  so  sullen 
a  gloom  that  none  ventured  to  question  him  on  tho 
subject. 

It  was  afternoon,  and  we  were  seated,  as  before 
mentioned,  outside  the  French  coffee-house  at  Lima. 
The  party  consisted  of  seven  or  eight  captains  of 
merchant  vessels  that  had  been  seized,  and  they  were 
doing  their  best  to  kill  the  time ;  some  smoking,  others 
chewing,  but  nearly  all  with  penknife  and  stick  in 
hand,  whittling  as  for  a  wager.  On  their  first  arrival 
at  Lima,  and  adoption  of  this  cof][ee-house  as  a  place 
of  resort,  the  tables  and  chairs  belonging  to  it  seemed 
in  a  fair  way  to  be  cut  to  pieces  by  these  indefatiga- 
ble whittlers  ;  but  the  coffee-house-keeper  had  hit 
upon  a  plan  to  avoid  such  deterioration  of  his  chat- 
tels, and  had  placed  in  every  corner  of  the  room 
bundles  of  sticks,  at  which  his  Yankee  customers  cut 
and  notched,  till  the  coffee-house  assumed  the  appear- 
ance of  a  carpenter's  shop. 

The  costume  and  airs  of  the  patriots,  as  they  called 
themselves,  were  no  small  source  of  amusement  to  us. 
They  strutted  about  in  all  the  pride  of  their  fire-new 
freedom,  regular  caricatures  of  soldiers.  One  would 
have  on  a  Spanish  jacket,  part  of  the  spoils  of  Aya- 
cucho;  another,  an  American  one,  purchased  from 


THE    BLOCKADE.  Sd9 

Bome  sailor ;  a  third,  a  monk's  robe,  cut  short,  and 
fashioned  into  a  sort  of  doublet.  Here  was  a  shako 
wanting  a  peak,  in  company  with  a  gold-laced  velvet 
coat  of  the  time  of  Philip  Y. ;  there,  a  hussar  jacket 
and  an  old-fashioned  cocked  hat.  The  volunteers 
were  the  best  clothed,  also  in  great  part  from  the 
plunder  of  the  battle  of  Ayacucho.  Their  uniforms 
were  laden  with  gold  and  silver  lace ;  and  some  of 
the  oflBcers,  not  satisfied  with  two  epaulettes,  had  half- 
a-dozen  dangling  from  their  shoulders. 

As  we  sat  smoking,  whittling,  and  quizzing  the 
patriots,  a  side-door  of  the  coffee-house  was  suddenly 
opened,  and  an  officer  came  out,  whose  appearance 
was  calculated  to  give  us  a  far  more  favorable  opin- 
ion of  the  military  men  of  South  America.  He  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  plainly  but  tastefully 
dressed,  and  of  that  unassuming,  engaging  demeanor 
which  is  so  often  found  the  companion  of  the  greatest 
decision  of  character,  and  which  contrasted  with  ftie 
martial  deportment  of  a  young  man  who  followed 
him,  and  who,  although  in  much  more  showy  uni- 
form, was  evidently  his  inferior  in  rank.  We  bowed 
as  he  passed  before  us,  and  he  acknowledged  the 
salutation  by  raising  his  cocked  hat  slightly,  but 
courteously,  from  his  head.     He  was  passing  on. 


324  A  SKETCH   IN   THE  TKOPICS. 

when  his  eyes  suddenly  fell  upon  Captain  Keady, 
who  was  standing  a  little  on  one  side,  notching  away 
at  his  tenth  or  twelfth  stick,  and  who  at  that  moment 
happened  to  look  up.  The  officer  started,  gazed  ear- 
nestly at  Ready  for  the  space  of  a  second  or  two,  and 
then,  with  delight  expressed  on  his  countenance, 
8i)rang  forward  and  clasped  him  in  his  arms. 

"Captain  Ready!" 

"That  is  my  name,"  quietly  replied  the  captain. 

"Is  it  possible  you  do  not  know  me?"  exclaimed 
the  officer. 

Ready  looked  hard  at  him,  and  seemed  a  little  in 
doubt.    At  last  he  shook  his  head. 

"You  do  not  know  me?"  repeated  the  other,  al- 
most reproachfully,  and  then  whispered  something  in 
his  ear. 

It  was  now  Ready's  turn  to  start  and  look  surprised. 
One  of  his  sunny  smiles,  a  smile  of  friendly  and 
well-pleased  recognition,  lit  up  his  countenance  as  he 
grasped  the  hand  of  the  officer,  who  took  his  arm  and 
dragged  him  away  into  the  house. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  elapsed,  during  which  we 
lost  ourselves  in  conjectures  as  to  who  this  acquaint- 
ance of  Ready's  could  be.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
the  captain  and  his  new  (or  old)  friend  reappeared. 


THE  BLOCKADE.  325 

The  latter  walked  away,  and  we  saw  him  enter  the 
government  house,  while  Keady  joined  ns,  silent  and 
phlegmatic  as  ever,  and  resumed  his  stick  and  pen- 
knife. In  reply  to  our  inquiries  as  to  who  the  officer 
was,  he  only  said  that  he  belonged  to  the  army  be- 
sieging Callao,  and  that  he  had  once  made  a  voyage 
as  his  passenger.  This  was  all  the  information  we 
could  extract  from  our  taciturn  friend  ;  but  we  saw 
plainly  that  the  officer  was  somebody  of  importance, 
from  the  respect  paid  him  by  the  soldiers  and  others 
whom  ho  met. 

The  morning  following  this  incident  we  were  seated 
at  our  chocolate,  when  an  orderly  dragoon  came  to 
ask  for  Captain  Ready.  The  captain  went  out  to 
speak  to  him,  and  presently  returning,  went  on  with 
his  breakfast  very  deliberately. 

When  he  had  done,  he  asked  me  if  I  were  inclined 
for  a  little  excursion  out  of  the  town,  which  would, 
perhaps,  keep  us  a  couple  of  days  away.  I  willingly 
accepted,  heartily  sick  as  I  was  of  the  monotonous 
life  we  were  leading.  We  packed  up  our  valises, 
took  our  pistols  and  cutlasses,  and  went  out. 

To  my  astonishment  the  orderly  was  waiting  at 
the  door  with  two  magnificent  Spanish  chargers, 
splendidly  accoutred.    They  were  the  finest  horses 


326  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

I  had  seen  in  Peru,  and  my  curiosity  was  strongly 
excited  to  know  who  had  sent  them,  and  whither  wo 
were  going.  To  my  questions,  Eeady  replied,  that 
we  were  going  to  visit  the  officer  whom  he  had 
spoken  to  on  the  preceding  day,  and  who  was  with 
the  besieging  army,  and  had  once  been  his  passenger ; 
but  he  declared  he  did  not  know  his  name  or  rank. 

We  had  left  the  town  about  a  mile  behind  us,  when 
we  he^d  the  sound  of  cannon ;  it  became  louder  as 
we  went  on,  and  about  a  mile  farther  we  met  a  string 
of  carts,  full  of  wounded,  going  in  to  Lima.  Here 
and  there  we  caught  sight  of  parties  of  marauders, 
who  disappeared  as  soon  as  they  saw  our  orderly.  I 
felt  a  great  longing  and  curiosity  to  witness  the  fight 
that  was  evidently  going  on — not,  however,  that  I 
was  particularly  desirous  of  taking  share  in  it,  or 
putting  myself  in  the  way  of  the  bullets.  My  friend 
the  captain  jogged  on  ly  my  side,  taking  little  heed 
of  the  roar  of  the  cannon,  which  to  him  was  no 
novelty ;  for  having  passed  his  life  at  sea,  he  had  had 
more  than  one  encounter  with  pirates  and  other  rough 
customers,  and  had  been  many  times  under  the  fire 
of  batteries,  running  in  and  out  of  blockaded 
American  ports.  His  whole  attention  was  now 
engrossed  by  the  management  of  his  horse,  which 


THE  BLOCKADE.  327 

was  somewhat  restive,  and  he,  like  most  sailors, 
was  a  very  indifferent  rider. 

On  reaching  the  top  of  a  small  rising  ground,  we 
beheld  to  the  left  the  dark  frowning  bastions  of  the 
fort,  and  to  the  right  the  village  of  Bella  Yista, 
which,  although  commanded  by  the  guns  of  Callao, 
had  iKjen  chosen  as  the  headquarters  of  the  besieging 
army  —  the  houses  being  for  the  most  part  built  of 
huge  blocks  of  stone,  and  offering  sufficient  resistance 
to  the  balls.  The  orderly  pointed  out  to  us  the  various 
batteries,  and  especially  one  just  completed,  which 
was  situated  about  three  hundred  yards  from  the 
fortress.  It  had  not  yet  been  used,  and*  was  still 
masked  from  the  enemy  by  some  houses  in  its  front. 

While  we  were  looking  about  us,  Eeady's  horse, 
irritated  by  the  noise  of  the  firing,  the  flashes  of 
the  guns,  and  perhaps  more  than  any  thing  by 
the  captain's  bad  riding,  became  more  and  more 
unmanageable,  and  at  last,  taking  the  bit  between 
his  teeth,  started  off  at  a  mad  gallop,  closely  followed 
by  myself  and  the  orderly,  to  whose  horses  the  panic 
seemed  to  have  communicated  itself.  The  clouds  of 
dust  raised  by  the  animals'  feet  prevented  us  from 
seeing  whither  we  were  going.  Suddenly  there 
was  an  explosion  that  seemed   to  shake  the  very 


328      '    A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

earth  under  us,  and  Keady,  the  orderly,  and  myself, 
lay  sprawling,  with  our  horses,  on  the  ground.  Be- 
fore we  could  collect  our  senses  and  get  up,  we  were 
nearly  deafened  by  a  tremendous  roar  of  artillery 
close  to  us,  and,  at  the  same  moment,  a  shower  of 
stones  and  fragments  of  brick  and  mortar  clattered 
about  our  ears. 

The  orderly  was  stunned  by  his  fall ;  I  was  bruised 
and  bewildered.  Eeady  was  the  only  one  who 
seemed  in  no  way  put  out.  Extricating  himself, 
with  his  usual  phlegm,  from  under  his  horse,  he 
came  to  our  assistance.  I  was  soon  on  my  legs,  and 
endeavoring  to  discover  the  cause  of  all  this  uproar. 

Our  unruly  steeds  had  brought  us  close  to  the  new 
battery,  at  the  very  moment  that  the  train  of  a  mine 
under  the  houses  in  front  of  it  had  been  fired:  The 
instant  the  obstacle  was  removed,  the  artillerymen 
had  opened  a  tremendous  fire  on  the  fort.  The 
Spaniards  were  not  slow  to  return  the  compliment, 
and  fortunate  it  was  that  a  solid  fragment  of  wall 
intervened  between  us  and  their  fire,  or  all  our 
troubles  about  the  brig,  and  every  thing  else,  would 
have  been  at  an  end.  Already  upward  of  twenty 
balls'  had  struck  the  old  broken  wall.  Shot  and  shell 
were  flying  in  every  direction,  the  smoke  was  stifling. 


■  THE  BLOCKADE.  329 

the  uproar  indescribable.  It  was  so  dark  with  the 
•smoke  and  dust  from  the  fallen  houses,  that  we  could 
not  see  an  arm's  length  before  us.  The  captain  asked 
two  or  three  soldiers  who  were  hurrying  by,  where 
the  battery  was ;  but  they  were  in  too  great  haste  to 
answer,  and  it  was  only  when  the  smoke  cleared 
away  a  little  that  we  discovered  we  were  not  twenty 
paces  from  it.  Ready  seized  my  arm,  and,  pulling  me 
with  him,  I  the  next  moment  found  myself  standing 
beside  a  gun,  under  cover  of  the  breastworks. 

The  battery  consisted  of  thirty  guns,  twenty-four 
and  thirty-six  pounders,  served  with  a  zeal  and  cour- 
age which  far  exceeded  any  thing  I  had  expected  to 
find  in  the  patriot  army.  The  fellows  were  really 
more  than  brave,  they  were  foolhardy.  They  danced, 
rather  than  walked,  round  the  guns,  and  exhibited  a 
contempt  of  death  that  could  not  well  be  surpassed. 
As  to  drawing  the  guns  back  from  the  embrasures 
while  loading  them,  they  never  dreamed  of  such  a 
thing.  They  stood  jeering  and  scoflSng  the  Spaniards, 
and  bidding  them  take  better  aim. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  only  three 
months  after  the  battle  of  Ayacucho,  the  greatest  feat 
of  arms  which  the  South  American  patriots  had 
achieved  during  the  whole  of  their  protracted  struggle 


330  A  SKETCH  IN  THE   TE(5PICS. 

with  Spain.  The  victory  had  literally  electrified  the 
troops,  and  inspired  them  with  a  contempt  of  their 
enemy,  which  frequently  showed  itself,  as  on  this 
occasion,  in  acts  of  the  greatest  daring  and  temerity. 

At  the  gun  by  which  Eeady  and  myself  took  our 
stand,  half  the  artillerymen  were  already  killed,  and 
we  had  scarcely  come  there,  when  a  cannon-fihot  took 
the  head  off  a  man  standing  close  to  me.  The  wind 
of  the  ball  was  so  great  that  I  believe  it  would  have 
suffocated  me,  had  I  not  fortunately  been  standing 
sideways  in  the  battery.  At  the  same  moment,  some- 
thing hot  splashed  over  my  neck  and  face,  and  nearly 
blinded  me.  I  looked,  and  saw  the  man  lying  with- 
out his  head  before  me.  I  can  not  describe  the  sicken- 
ing sensation  that  came  over  me.  It  was  not  the  first 
man  I  had  seen  killed  in  my  life,  but  it  was  the  first 
whose  blood  and  brains  had  spurted  into  my  face. 
My  knees  shook,  and  my  head  swam ;  I  was  obliged 
to  lean  against  the  wall,  or  I  should  have  fallen. 

Another  ball  fell  close  beside  me,  and,  strange  to 
say,  it  brought  me  partly  to  myself  again ;  and  by 
the  time  a  third  and  fourth  had  bounced  into  the  bat- 
tery, I  began  to  take  things  pretty  coolly — my  heart 
beating  rather  quicker  than  usual,  I  acknowledge; 
but,  nevertheless,  I  found  an  indescribable   sort  of 


THE  BLOCKADE.  331 

pleasure,  a  mischievous  joy,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  in  the 
peril  and  excitement  of  the  scene. 

"While  I  was  getting  over  my  terror^,  my  companion 
moved  about  the  battery  with  his  nsual  sang-froid^ 
reconnoitering  the  enemy.  He  ran  no  useless  risk, 
kept  himself  well  behind  the  breastworks,  stooping 
down  when  necessary,  and  taking  all  proper  care  of 
himself.  When  he  had  completed  his  reconnoissance, 
he,  to  my  no  small  astonishment,  took  off  his  coat, 
and  neck-handkerchief,  the  latter  of  which  he  tied 
tight  round  his  waist,  then,  taking  a  rammer  from 
the  hand  of  a  soldier  who  had  just  fallen,  he  ordered 
or  rather  signed  to  the  artillerymen  to  draw  the  gun 
back. 

There  was  something  so  cool  and  decided  in  his 
manner,  that  they  obeyed,  without  testifying  any 
surprise  at  his  interference,  and  as  though  he  had 
been  one  of  their  own  officers.  He  loaded  the  piece, 
had  it  drawn  forward  again,  pointed  and  fired  it.  He 
then  went  to  the  next  gun  and  did  the  same  thing 
there.  He  seemed  so  perfectly  at  home  in  the  battery, 
that  nobody  ever  dreamed  of  disputing  his  authority, 
and  the  two  guns  were  entirely  under  his  direction, 
I  had  now  got  used  to  the  thing  myself,  so  I  went 
forward  and  offered  my  services,  which,  in  the  scarcity 


A   SKETCH   IN  THE  TROPICS. 

of  men,  (so  many  having  been  killed,)  were  not  to  be 
refused,  and  I  helped  to  draw  the  guns  backward 
and  forward,  and  to  load  them.  The  captain  kept 
running  Irom  one  to  the  other,  pointing  them,  and 
admirably  well,  too ;  for  every  shot  took  effect  within 
a  circumference  of  a  few  feet  on  the  bastion  in  front 
of  us. 

This  lasted  nearly  an  hour,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  fire  was  considerably  slackened,  for  the 
greater  part  of  our  guns  had  become  unserviceable. 
Only  about  a  dozen  kept  np  the  fire,  (the  ball,  I  was 
going  to  say,)  and  among  them  were  the  two  that 
Eeady  commanded.  He  had  given  them  time  to  cool 
after  firing,  whereas  most  of  the  others,  in  their  des- 
perate haste  and  eagerness,  had  neglected  that  pre- 
caution. Although  the  patriots  had  now  been  fifteen 
years  at  war  with  the  Spaniards,  they  were  still  very 
indifferent  artillerymen — for  artillery  had  little  to  do 
in  most  of  their  fights,  which  were  generally  decided 
by  cavalry  and  infantry ;  and  even  in  that  of  Ayacu- 
cho  there  were  only  a  few  small  field-pieces  in  use  on 
either  side.  The  mountainous  nature  of  the  country, 
intersected,  too,  by  mighty  rivers,  and  the  want  of 
good  roads,  were  the  reasons  of  the  insignificant  part 
played  by  the  artillery  in  those  wars. 


THE  BLOCKADK.  333 

While  we  were  thus  hard  at  work,  who  should 
enter  the  battery  but  the  very  officer  we  had  left 
Lima  to  visit?  He  was  attended  bj  a  numerous 
staff,  and  was  evidently  of  a  very  high  rank.  He 
stood  a  little  back,  watching  all  Captain  Eeady's 
movements,  and  rubbing  his  hands  with  visible 
satisfaction.  Just  at  that  moment  the  captain  iired 
one  of  the  guns,  and,  as  the  smoke  cleared  away  a 
little,  we  saw  the  opposite  bastion  rock,  and  then  sink 
down  into  the  moat.  A  joyous  hurra  greeted  its  fall, 
and  the  general  and  his  staff  sprang  forward. 

One  must  have  witnessed  the  scene  that  followed, 
in  order  to  form  any  adequate  idea  of  the  mad  joy 
and  enthusiasm  of  its  actors.  The  general  seized 
Ready  in  his  arms,  and  eagerly  embraced  him,  then 
almost  threw  him  to  one  of  his  officers,  who  per- 
formed the  like  ceremony,  and,  in  his  turn,  passed 
him  to  a  third.  The  imperturbable  captain  flew,  or 
was  tossed,  like  a  ball,  from  one  to  the  other.  I  also 
came  in  for  my  share  of  the  embraces. 

I  thought  them  all  stark-staring  mad  ;  and,  indeed, 
I  do  not  believe  they  were  far  from  it.  The  balls 
were  still  hailing  into  the  battery  ;  one  of  them  cut  a 
poor  devil  of  an  orderly  nearly  in  two,  but  no  notice 
was  taken  of  such  trifles.    It  was  a  curious  scene 


334     •  A  SKETCH   IN  THE  TROPICS. 

enough ;  the  cannon-balls  bouncing  about  our  ears  — 
the  ground  under  our  feet  slippery  with  blood  — 
wounded  and  dying  on  all  sides  —  and  we  ourselves 
pushed  and  passed  about  from  the  arms  of  one  black- 
bearded   fellow  into  those   of  another.    Tliere  was 

« 
something  thoroughly  exotic,  completely  South  Amer- 
ican and  tropical,  in  this  impromptu. 

Strange  to  say,  now  that  the  breach  was  made,  and 
a  breach  such  that  a  determined  regiment,  assisted 
by  a  well-directed  fire  of  artillery,  could  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  storming  the  town,  there  was  no  ap- 
pearance of  a  disposition  to  profit  by  it.  The  patriots 
were  quite  contented  with  what  had  been  done ;  most 
of  the  officers  left  the  batteries,  and  the  thing  was 
evidently  over  for  the  day.  I  knew  little  of  Spanish 
Americans  then,  or  I  should  have  felt  less  surprised 
than  I  did  at  their  not  following  up  their  advantage. 
It  was  not  from  want  of  courage,  for  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  have  exhibited  more  than  they  had  done  that 
morning ;  but  they  had  had  their  moment  of  fury,  of 
wild  energy  and  exertion,  and  the  other  side  of  the 
national  character — indolence — now  showed  itself. 
After  fighting  like  devils,  they  now,  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  activity  was  of  most  importance,  lay 
down  and  took  the  siesta. 


THE   BLOCKADE.  335 

We  were  about  leaving  the  battery,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  visiting  some  of  the  others,  when  our  orderly 
came  up  in  all  haste,  with  orders  to  conduct  us  to  the 
general's  quarters.  We  followed  him,  and  soon 
reached  a  noble  villa,  at  the  door  of  which  a  guard 
was  stationed.  Here  we  were  given  over  to  a  sort  of 
major-domo,  who  led  us  through  a  crowd  of  aides-de- 
camp, stafl-officers,  and  orderlies,  to  a  chamber, 
whither  our  valises  had  preceded  us.  We  were  de- 
sired to  make  haste  with  our  toilet,  as  dinner  would 
be  served  so  soon  as  his  Excellency  returned  from 
the  batteries ;  and,  indeed,  we  had  scarcely  changed 
our  dress,  and  washed  the  blood  and  smoke  from  our 
persons,  when  the  major-domo  reappeared,  and  an- 
nounced the  general's  return. 

Dinner  was  laid  out  in  a  large  saloon,  in  which 
some  sixty  officers  were  assembled  when  we  entered 
it.  With  small  regard  to  etiquette,  and  not  waiting 
for  the  general  to  welcome  us,  they  all  sprang  to 
meet  us  with  a  ^^Bien  venidos^  capitanea  !  " 

Tie  dinner  was  such  as  might  be  expected  at  the 
table  of  a  general  who*  commanded  at  the  same  time 
an  army  and  the  blockade  of  a  much-frequented  port. 
The  most  delicious  French  and  Spanish  wines  were 
there  in  profusion ;  the  convivialitv  of  the  guests  was 


336  A  SKETCH  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

unbounded ;  but  although  they  drank  their  cham- 
pagne out  of  tumblers,  no  one  showed  the  smallest 
symptom  of  inebriety. 

The  first  toast  given,  was — Bolivar. 

The  second — Sucre. 

The  third — The  Battle  of  Ayacucho. 

The  fourth — Union  between  Columbia  and  Peru. 

The  fifth— Hualero. 

The  general  rose  to  return  thanks,  and  we  now,  for 
the  first  time,  knew  his  name.  He  raised  his  glass, 
and  spoke,  evidently  with  much  emotion. 

"  SeSores !  Amigos ! "  said  he,  "  that  I  am  this  day 
among  you,  and  able  to  thank  you  for  your  kindly  sen- 
timents toward  your  general  and  brother  in  arms,  is 
owing  under  Providence,  to  the  good  and  brave  stran- 
ger whose  acquaintance  you  have  only  this  day  made, 
but  who  is  one  of  my  oldest  and  best  friends."  And 
so  saying  he  left  his  place,  and,  approaching  Captain 
Ready,  afiectionately  embraced  him.  The  seaman's 
iron  features  lost  their  usual  imperturbability,  and  his 
lips  quivered  as  he  stammered  out  the  two  words — 

"Amigo  siempre." 

The  following  day  we  passed  in  the  camp,  and 
upon  the  next  returned  to  Lima,  the  general  insisting 
on  our  taking  up  our  quarters  in  his  house. 


THE  BLOCKADE.  337 

From  Hualero  and  his  lady  I  learned  the  origin  of 
the  friendship  existing  between  the  distinguished 
Columbian  general  and  my  taciturn  Yankee  captain. 
It  was  the  honorable  explanation  of  the  mysterious 
stain  upon  Eeady's  character. 

Our  difficulties  regarding  the  brig  were  now  soon 
at  an  end.  The  vessel  and  cargo  were  returned  to 
us,  with  the  exception  of  a  large  quantity  of  cigars 
belonging  to  the  Spanish  government.  These  were, 
of  course,  confiscated,  but  the  general  bought  them, 
and  made  them  a  present  to  Captain  Keady,  who 
sold  them  by  auction ;  and  cigars  being  in  no  small 
demand  among  that  tobacco-loving  population,  they 
fetched  immense  prices,  and  put  thirty  thousand 
dollars  into  my  friend's  pocket. 

To  be  brief,  in  three  weeks  we  sailed  from  Lima, 
and  in  a  vastly  better  humor  than  when  we  arrived 
there. 


F 


A  TALE    OF    THE    MEXICAN  WAR. 

The  following  is  a  chapter  from  a  book  on  the  late 
Mexican  war.  The  characters  named,  having  been 
previously  introduced,  will  come  upon  the  reader 
rather  abruptly;  but  they  will  explain  themselves, 
before  the  conclusion  of  the  narrative. 

We  headed  toward  the  National  Bridge.  Kaoul 
had  a  friend — half  way  on  the  route,  an  old  com- 
rade upon  whom  he  could  depend.  "We  should  find 
refreshment  there;  and,  if  &t  a  bed,  a  roof,  and  a 
petate.  His  ranche  was  in  a  included  spot,  near  the 
road  that  leads  to  the  rinconada  of  San  Martin.  We 
should  not  be  likely  to  meet  any  one,  as  it  was  ten 
miles  off;  and  it  would  be  late  when  we  reached  it. 

It  was  late,  near  midnight,  when  we  dropped  in 
upon  the  contrdbandista  —  for  such  was  the  friend 
of  Raoul — but  he  and  his  family  w^ere  still  astir, 
under  the  light  of  a  very  dull  wax  candle. 


THE  JAROCHOS.  339 

Jos6  Antonio,  that  was  his  name,  was  a  little 
"sprung"  at  the  ^yb  bare-headed  apparitions  that 
burst  so  suddenly  upon  him  ;  but  recognizing  Eaoul, 
we  were  cordially  welcomed.  Our  host  was  a  spare, 
bony  old  fellow,  in  leathern  jacket  and  calsoneros, 
with  a  keen,  shrewd  eye,  that  took  in  our  situation  at 
a  single  glance,  and  saved  the  Frenchman  a  great 
deal  of  explanation.  Notwithstanding  the  cordiality 
with  which  his  friend  received  him,  I  noticed  that 
Raoul  seemed  uneasy  about  something,  as  he  glanced 
around  the  room;  for  the  ranche  —  a  small  cane 
structure — had  only  one. 

There  were  two  women  stirring  about  —  the  wife 
of  the  contrabandista,  and  his  daughter,  a  plump 
good-looking  girl  of  eighteen  or  thereabout. 

"iTo  han  cenadOf  cahalUrosfy  (You  have  not 
supped,  gentlemen,)  inquired,  or  rather  affirmed,  Jos6 
Antonio,  for  our  looks  had  answered  the  question 
before  it  was  asked. 

"iV^  coTTiino — ni  almorzado.''^  (Nor  dined;  nor 
breakfasted  ;)  replied  Raoul  with  a  grin. 

"  Garrambo  ! — Rafaela — Jesusita  !  "  shouted  our 
host,  with  a  sign ;  such  as,  among  the  Mexicans,  often 
conveys  a  whole  chapter  of  intelligence.  The  effect 
was  magical.    It  sent  Jesusita  (Little  Jesus)  to  her 


840  THE   JABOCHOS.  ^ 

knees  before  the  tortilla  stones ;  and  Kafaela,  Jose's 
wife,  seized  a  string  of  tassajo,  and  plunged  it  into 
the  oUa.  Then  the  little  palm  leaf  fan  was  handled  ; 
and  the  charcoal  blazed  and  crackled ;  and  the  beef 
boiled ;  and  the  black  beans  simmered ;  and  the 
chocolate  frothed  up,  and  we  all  felt  happy  under  the 
prospect  of  a  savory  supper. 

It  may  appear  strange  to  some  Christians,  when 
they  learn  that  the  name  of  the  Saviour  is  much  used 
as  a  surname  among  the  Mexicans.  Such,  however, 
is  the  fact ;  and  what  is  equally  strange  to  a  Saxon 
foreigner,  it  is  used  indifferently  as  far  as  regards  sex. 
Men  as  well  as  women  carry  this  appellation. 

Tassajo,  or  jerk  beef  is  much  used  in  all  Spanish 
countries  where  salt  is  scarce.  It  is  beef  cured  by 
being  cut  into  long  strings  and  dried  in  the  sun.  It 
is  generally  eaten  in  hashes,  stews,  &c.,  and  cooked 
by  the  Mexicans  with  chili  Colorado^  is  not  bad  eat- 
ing. It  frequently,  however,  by  its  smell,  suggests 
unpleasant  ideas  of  decomposition. 

I  think  that  any  one  who  has  spent  a  week  among 
the  Mexican  peasantry,  will  recognize  these  little 
incidents.  Cooking  is  accomplished  almost  every- 
where by  charcoal.  This  proceeds  from  the  scarcity 
of  fuel  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  country.    There  are 


THE   JAEOCHOS.  341 

no  chimneys  therefore,  as  there  is  no  smoke.  There 
are  no  grates  nor  stoves,  and  no  great  fires  for  peo- 
ple' to  warm  themselves  at.  The  climate  does  away 
with  the  necessity  of  these  things.  There  are  not  a 
dozen  houses  in  Mexico  where  yon  might  sit  by  a 
fire  —  except  in  their  kitchens — and  the  few  fire- 
places I  have  seen  were  luxuries  of  the  wealthy,  kept 
for  some  peculiar  visit  from  the  northern  winds.  In 
the  cottage  you  find  a  bank  of  painted  mason-work 
as  high  as  a  table.  It  is  frequently  in  the  center  of 
the  cottage  in  the  cane  huts  of  the  tierra  caliente, 
but  oftener  built  against  the  side.  Several  square 
holes,  nine  inches  square,  are  sunk  on  tlie  top  and 
near  the  edge  ;  and  from  the  bottoms  of  these,  small 
apertures  run  out  horizontally  to  the. sides  of  the 
bank.  The  charcoal  is  placed  in  these  little  wells' 
and  ignited.  It  is  fanned  by  means  of  the  horizontal 
apertures  below.  This  structure  then  is  a  hrasero, 
found  in  almost  every  Mexican  house;  of  course 
larger,  and  containing  a  greater  number  of  charcoal 
wells,  in  the  kitchens  of  the  wealthy. 

I  had  noticed  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  bright 
prospects  of  a  good  supper,  Raoul  seemed  uneasy. 
In  the  comer  I  discovered  the  cause  of  his  solicitude, 
in  the  shape  of  a  small,  spare  man,  wearing  tho 


342  THE  JAEOCHOS. 

shovel  hat,  and  black  cajpote  of  a  priest.  I  knew 
that  my  comrade  was  not  partial  to  priests,  and 
that  he  would  sooner  have  trusted  Satan  himself 
than  one  of  the  tribe  ;  and  I  attributed  his  uneasiness 
to  this  natural  dislike. 

"  Who  is  he,  Antone  ? "  I  heard  him  whisper  to  the 
contrabandista. 

"The  cur6  of  San  Martin,"  was  the  reply. 

"He  is  new,  then,"  said  Raoul. 

^^Horribre  de  tien^'^  (a  good  man)  answered  the 
Mexican,  nodding  as  he  spoke. 

Baoul  seemed  satisfied,  and  remained  silent. 

I  could  not  help  noticing  the  "hombre  de  bien" 
myself;  and  no  more  could  I  help  fancying,  after  a 
short  observation,  that  the  ranche  was  indebted  for 
the  honor  of  his  presence,  more  to  the  black  eyes  of 
Jesusita,  than  to  any  zeal  on  his  part,  regarding  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  contrabandista. 

There  was  a  villanous  expression  upon  his  lip,  as  he 
watched  the  girl  moving  over  the  floor ;  and,  once  or 
twice,  I  caught  him  scowling  upon  Chane,  who,  in 
his  usual  Irish  way,  was  "  blarneying"  with  her,  and 
helping  her  to  fan  the  charcoal. 

"Where's  the  Padre?"  whispered  Eaoul,  to  our  host. 

"He  was  in  the  Einconada  this  morning." 


THB  JAKOCHOS.  843 

"In  the  Kinconada!"  exclaimed  the  Frenchman, 

starting, 

"  They  're  gone  down  to  the  bridge.  The  band  has 
had  2.  fandango  (as  our  battles  were  jocularly  termed 
by  the  Mexicans,)  with  your  people,  and  lost  some 
men.  They  say  they  have  killed  a  good  many 
stragglers  along  the  road." 

"So  he  was  in  the  Kinconada,  you  say?  and  this 
morning  too  ?"  inquired  liaoul,  in  a  half  soliloquy,  and 
without  heeding  the  last  remarks  of  the  contrabandista. 

"We've  got  to  look  sharp  then,"  he  added. 

"There's  no  danger,"  replied  the  other,  "if  you 
keep  from  the  road.  Your  people  have  already 
reached  El  Plain,  and  are  preparing  to  attack  the 
Pass  of  the  Cerro.  El  Cojo^  they  say,  has  twenty 
thousand  men  to  defend  it." 

During  this  dialogue,  which  was  carried  on  in 
whispers,  I  had  noticed  the  little  Padre  shifting 
about  uneasily  on  his  seat.  At  its  conclusion  he 
rose  up,  and  bidding  our  host  ^^huenas  noches/"  was 
about  to  withdraw,  when  Lincoln,  who  had  been 
quietly  eyeing  him  for  some  time,  with  that  sharp 

t  **The  lame  one/'  a  name  given  in  derision  to  Santa  Anna,  and 
given  by  his  own  countrymen,  in  whose  cause  he  lost  the  very  leg 
which  had  rendered  him  eligible  to  the  appellation. 


3^  THE  JAEOCHOS. 

searching  look  peculiar  to  men  of  his  kidney,  jumped 
up,  and  placing  himself  before  the  door,  exclaimed 
in  a  drawling  emphatic  tone, 

''JVo,yer  don't/'' 

^^Que  cosaV  (what's  the  matter?)  asked  the  Padre 
indignantly. 

"  Kay  or  no  Kay  —  Cosser  or  no  Cosser — yer  don't 
go  out  o'  here,  afore  we  do.  Kowl,  ax  yer  friend  for 
a  piece  o'  twine,  will  yer  ? " 

The  Padre  appealed  to  our  host,  and  he,  in  turn, 
appealed  to  Kaoul.  The  Mexican  was  in  a  dilemma. 
He  dared  not  offend  the  cur6,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  did  not  wish  to  dictate  to  his  old  comrade  Kaoul. 
Moreover,  the  fierce  hunter,  who  stood  like  a  huge 
giant  in  the  door,  had  a  voice  in  the  matter  ;  and 
therefore  Jos6  Antonio  had  three  minds  to  consult  at 
one  time. 

"It  aint  Bob  Linkin  id  infringe  the  rules  of  hosper 
tality,"  said  the  hunter,  "but  this  yeer's  a  peculiar 
case — an  I  don't  like  the  look  of  that  ar  priest,  no 
how  yer  kin  fix  it." 

Eaoul,  however,  sided  with  the  contrabandista,  and 
explained  to  Lincoln  that  the  Padre  was  the  peaceable 
cure  of  the  neighboring  village,  and  the  friend  of 
Don  Antonio ;  and  the  hunter,  seeing  that  I  did  not 


THE  JAEOCHOS.  345 

interpose  —  for  at  the  moment  I  was  in  one  or'  those 
moods  of  abstraction,  and  scarcely  noticed  what  was 
going  on — permitted  the  priest  to  pass  out.  I  was 
recalled  to  myself,  more  by  some  peculiar  expressions, 
which  I  heard  Lincoln  muttering,  after  it  was  over, 
than  by  the  incidents  of  the  scene  itself. 

The  occurrence  had  rendered  us  all  somewhat 
uneasy ;  and  we  resolved  upon  swallowing  our 
suppers  hastily,  and,  after  pushing  forward  some 
distance,  to  sleep  in  the  woods. 

The  tortillas  were  now  ready,  and  the  pretty  Jesusita 
was  pouring  out  the  chocolate ;  so  we  set  to  work  like 
men  who  had  appetites. 

The  supper  was  soon  dispatched,  but  our  host  had 
Bomepurosin  the  house — a  luxury  we  had  not  enjoyed 
lately ;  and  hating  to  hurry  away  from  such  comfortable 
quarters,  we  determined  to  stay,  and  take  a  smoke. 

"We  had  hardly  lit  our  cigars,  when  Jesusita,  who 
had  gone  to  the  door,  came  hastily  back,  exclaiming : 

^^JPapa  — papa  !  Kay  gente  fuera  !  "  (Papa,  there 
are  people  outside.) 

As  we  sprang  to  our  feet,  several  shadows  appeared 

through  the  open  walls.     Lincoln  seized  his  rifle,  and 

ran  to  the  door.    The  next  moment  he  rushed  back, 

shouting  out 

15* 


346  THE  JABOCHOS. 

"I  told  yer  SO." 

And,  dashing  his  huge  body  against  the  back  of 
the  ranche,  he  broke  through  the  cane  pickets  with  a 
crash  I 

"We  were  hastening  to  follow  him,  when  the  frail 
structure  gave  way ;  and  we  found  ourselves  buried, 
along  with  our  host  and  his  women,  under  a  heavy 
thatch  of  tule  (a  species  of  gigantic  rushes)  and  palm 
leaves. 

"We  heard  the  crack  of  our  comrade's  rifle  without — 
the  scream  of  a  victim — the  reports  of  pistols  and 
escopettes — the  yelling  of  savage  men — and  then, 
the  roof  was  raised  again ;  and  we  were  pulled  out 
and  dragged  down  among  the  trees,  and  tied  to  their 
trunks,  and  taunted  and  goaded,  and  kicked  and 
cuffed,  by  the  most  villanous  looking  set  of  despera- 
does, it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to  fall  among. 
They  seemed  to  take  a  delight  in  abusing  us — yelling 
all  the  while,  like  so  many  demons  let  loose. 

Our  late  acquaintance,  the  cur6,  was  among  them ; 
and  it  was  plain  that  he  had  brought  the  party  on 
us.  His  "reverence"  looked  high  and  low  for 
Lincoln ;  but,  to  his  great  mortification,  the  hunter  had 
escaped. 

"We  were  not  long  in  learning  in  whose  hands  we 


THE  JAR0CH08.  347 

had  fallen;  for  the  name  "Jarauta,"^  was  on  every 
tongue.  They  were  the  dreaded  Jarochos  of  the 
bandit  priest. 

"We're  in  for  it  How,"  said  Kaonl,  deeply  mortified 
at  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  affair  with  the  cvltL 
"It's  a  wonder  they  have  kept  ns  so  long.  Perhaps 
he^8  not  here  himself,  and  they're  waiting  for  him." 

As  Kaoul  said  this,  the  clatter  of  hoofe  sounded 
along  the  narrow  road ;  and  a  horseman  came  gal- 
loping up  to  the  ranche,  riding  over  every  thing  and 
every  body,  with  a  perfect  recklessness. 

"That's  Jarauta,"  whispered  Eaoul.  "If  he  sees 
me  —  but  it  don't  matter  much,"  he  added,  in  a  lower 
tone,  "we'll  have  a  quick  shrift  all  the  same :  he  can't 
more  than  hang — and  that  he'll  be  sure  to  do." 

"Where  are  these  Yankees?"  cried  Jarauta,  leaping 
out  of  his  saddle. 

"  Here,  Captain,"  answered  one  of  the  Jarochos,  a 
hideous  looki  2g  griffe,  dressed  in  a  scarlet  uniform, 
and  apparency  the  lieutenant  of  the  band. 

"  How  many  ? " 

"Four,  Captain." 

"Very  well  —  what  are  you  waiting  for?" 

"To  know  whether  I  shall  hang  or  shoot  them." 

•  Pronounced  Harotota. 


548  THE  JAROOHOS. 

'Shoot  them,  by  all  means  1  Carrambo!  we  have 
no  time  for  neck-stretching ! " 

"There  are  some  nice  trees  here,  Captain," suggested 
another  of  the  band,  with  as  much  coolness  as  if  he 
had  been  conversing  about  the  hanging  of  so  many- 
dogs.  He  wished — a  curiosity  not  uncommon  —  to 
witness  the  spectacle  of  hanging. 

^'Madre  de  Dios!  stupid.  I  tell  you  we  havn't 
time  for  such  silly  sport.  Out  with  you  there.  San- 
chez! Gabriel!  Carlos!  send  your  bullets  through 
their  Saxon  skulls.     Quick ! " 

Several  of  the  Jarochos  commenced  unslinging 
their  carbines,  while  those  who  guarded  us  fell  back 
to  be  cut  of  range  of  the  lead. 

"  Come,"  exclaimed  Kaoul,  "  it  can't  be  worse 
than  this — we  can  only  die;  and  I'll  let  the  padre 
know  who  he  has  got,  before  I  take  leave  of  him  — 
a  souvenir  that  won't  make  him  sleeT>  any  sounder 
to-night.  Oyez!  Padre  Jarauta^'^  continued  he 
calling  out  in  a  tone  of  irony  ;  "  hav  3  you  found 
Marguerita  yet?" 

We  could  see  between  us  and  the  dim  rushlight, 
that  the  Jarocho  started,  as  if  a  shot  had  passed 
through  his  heart. 

"Hold!'-  be  shouted  to  the  men,  who  were  about 


THE  JAEOCHOS.  34.9 

taking  aim,  "trail  those  scoundrels  hither!  A  light 
there — fire  the  thatch  I     Yay a ! " 

In  a  moment,  the  hut  of  the  contrabandista  was  in 
flames,  the  dry  palm-leaves  blazing  up  like  flax. 

"  Merciful  heaven  I  they  are  going  to  roast  us  /  " 

With  this  horrible  apprehension,  we  were  dragged 
up  toward  the  barning  pile,  close  to  which  stood  our 
fierce  judge  and  executioner. 

The  bamboos  blazed  and  crackled,  and  under  their 
red  glare,  we  could  now  see  our  captors  with  a  terri- 
ble distinctness.  A  more  demon-like  set,  I  think, 
could  not  have  been  found  any  where  out  of  the 
infernal  regions. 

Most  of  them  were  Zamboes*  and  Mestizoes,!  and 
not  a  few  pure  Africans  of  the  blackest  hue,  maroons 
from  Cuba,  and  the  Antilles,  many  of  them  with 
their  coarse  woolly  hair  sticking  out  in  matted  tufts, 
their  white  teeth,  set  in  savage  grins,  their  strange 
armor  and  grotesque  attitudes,  their  wild  and  pictur- 
esque attire,  formed  a  coup  cPoeil  that  might  have 
pleased  a  painter  in  his  studio,  but  which,  at  the  time, 
had  no  charm  for  us. 

There  were  Pintos  among  them,  too — spotted  men 
from  the   tangled   forests   of   Acapulco — pied   and 

•  Zambo — half  Indian,  half  Negro,   f  Mestizoe,  half  Indian  half  Spanish. 


3^0  THE  JAROCHOS. 

speckled  with  blotches  of  red,  and  black  and  white, 
like  hounds  and  horses.  They  were  the  first  of  this 
race  I  had  ever  seen,  and  their  unnatural  complexions, 
even  at  this  fearful  moment,  impressed  me  with  feel- 
ings of  disgust  and  loathing.  There  exists  a  vast 
tribe  of  these  strange  men  in  a  district  of  the  tierra 
caliente^  near  Acapulco.  They  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  belong  to  the  Mexican  government,  as  the  only 
man,  whose  authority  they  care  a  calaco  for,  is  General 
Alvarez,  an  old  Indian,  who  is  himself  quite  as  odd  a 
character  as  any  one  of  the  Pintos.  Alvarez  obeyed 
the  call  of  his  government  during  the  late  war,  and, 
collecting  about  three  thousand  Indians,  among  whom 
there  was  a  sharp  "sprinkling"  of  Pintos,  turned  the 
rear  of  our  army  at  Puebla,  and  followed  us  up  into 
the  valley  of  Mexico,  without  striking  a  blow ;  and 
yet  these  Pintos  and  Indians  of  Alvarez  are  repre- 
sented by  the  Mexicans,  as  fierce^  and  warlike! 
Alvarez  frequently  gets  up  a  pronunciamento 
against  the  government;  and  they  have  not  been 
able  hitherto  to  interfere  either  with  him,  or  his 
spotted  warriors. 

A  single  glance  at  this  motley  crew  would  have 
convinced  us,  had  we  not  been  quite  sure  of  it  already, 
that  we  had  no  favors  to  exx)ect.    There  was  not  a 


THE   JABOCHOS-  S51 

countenance  among  them  that  exhibited  the  slightest 
trait  of  grace,  or  mercy.  No  such  expression  could 
be  seen  around  us,  and  we  felt  satisfied  that  our  time 
was  come. 

The  appearance  of  their  leader  did  not  shake  this 
conviction.  Revenge  and  hatred  were  playing  upon 
his  sharp  sallow  features,  and  his  thin  lips  quivered 
with  an  expression  of  malice,  plainly  habitual.  Hia 
nose,  like  a  parrot's  beak,  had  been  broken  by  a  blow, 
which  added  to  its  sinister  shape ;  and  his  small  black 
eyes  t^i^nkled  with  metallic  brightness. 

He  wore  a  purplish-colored  mangaj  that  covered 
his  whole  body,  and  his  feet  were  cased  in  the  red 
leather  boots  of  the  country,  with  heavy  silver  spurs 
strapped  over  them.  A  black  sombrero,  with  its 
band  of  gold  bullion,  and  tags  of  the  same  material, 
completed  the  tout  ensemble  of  his  costume.  He 
wore  neither  beard  nor  moustache,  but  his  hair,  black 
and  snaky,  hung  down  trailing  over  the  velvet  em- 
broidery of  his  manga — which  is  a  most  beautiful 
and  graceful  garment,  peculiar,  I  believe  to  Mexico. 

This  garment,  resembles  the  seraph,  in  one  thing. 
Both  have  a  vent,  through  which  the  head  is  thrust, 
leaving  the  garment  to  rest  upon  the  shoulders. 
Around  this,  the  manga  is  always  embroidered  and 


352  THE  JABOCHOS.  '' 

braided,  over  a  circle  of  two  feet  in  diameter.  The 
serape  is  only  a  blanket-shaped  article,  while  the 
manga  is  fashioned  something  after  the  style  of  a 
circle  cloak.  It  is  uniform  in  color ;  in  this  again 
dijffering  from  the  serape^  which  is  speckled  like  a 
carpet.  The  color  of  the  manga  is  often  very  gay. 
Purple  ones  are  frequently  seen,  and  even  red; 
black  and  blue  are  common.  The  manga  is  rare, 
not  being  worn  so  commonly  as  the  serape.  It  is 
costly,  and  requires  some  art  in  the  making  up ;  still, 
you  will  meet  with  it  now  and  then,  and  ofteh  cover- 
ing the  shoulders  of  a  common  ranchero.  It  is  a 
picture  to  see  a  fine-looking  specimen  of  the  ranchero, 
dressed, in  one  of  these  graceful  robes* 

Such  was  the  Padre  Jarauta. 

Eaoul's  face  was  before  him,  upon  which  he  looked 
for  some  moments  without  speaking.  His  features 
twitched,  as  if  under  galvanic  action,  and  we  could 
see  that  his  fingers  jerked  in  a  similar  manner. 

They  were  painfid  memories  that  could  produce 
this  effect  upon  a  heart  of  such  iron  deviltry ;  and 
Raoul  alone  knew  them.  The  latter  seemed  to  enjoy 
the  interlude,  for  he  lay  upon  the  ground  looking 
up  at  the  Jarocho  with  a  smile  of  triumph  upon  his 
reckless  features ! 


THE   JAEOCHOS.  353 

We  were  expecting  the  next  speech  of  the  padre 
to  be  an  order  for  flinging  us  into  the  fire,  which  now 
burned  fiercely.  Fortunately,  this  fancy  did  not  seem 
to  strike  him  just  then. 

"Ha!  Monsieur,"  exclaimed  he  at  length,  ap- 
proaching Eaoul.  "  I  dreamt  that  you  and  I  would 
meet  again — I  dreamt  it — ha  I  ha!  ha!  it  was  a 
pleasant  dream,  but  not  half  bo  pleasant  as  the  real- 
ity ;  ha!  ha!  ha!  Don't  yow  think  so?"  he  added, 
striking  our  comrade  over  the  face  with  a  mule  quirt.* 
"Don't  you  think  so?"  he  repeated,  lashing  him  as  be- 
fore, while  his  eyes  sparkled  with  a  fiendish  malignity. 

"Did  you  dream  of  meeting  Marguerita  again?" 
inquired  Kaoul  with  a  satirical  laugh,  that  soimded 
Btrange,  even  fearful,  under  the  circumstances. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  expression  of  the  Jarocho 
at  that  moment.  His  sallow  face  turned  black,  his 
lips  white,  his  eyes  burned  like  a  demon's,  and 
springing  forward  with  a  fierce  oath,  he  planted  his 
iron-shod  heel  upon  the  face  of  our  comrade.  The 
skin  peeled  ofij  and  the  blood  followed. 

There  was  something  so  cowardly — so  redolent  of 
a  brutal  ferocity  in  the  act,  that  I  could  not  remain 

*  A  species  of  whip  without  any  handle,  except  a  band  of  leather 
that  fastens  it  to  the  hand 


364  THE  jAROciiog. 

quiet.  With  a  desperate  wrench,  I  freed  my  hands, 
skinning  my  wrists  in  the  eftbrt,  and,  flinging  myself 
upon  him,  I  clutched  at  the  monster's  throat. 

He  stepped  back ;  my  ankles  were  tied,  and  I  fell 
upon  my  face  at  his  feet. 

"Ho!  ho!"  cried  he,  "what  have  we  here?  An 
officer,  eh?  Come!"  he  continued,  "rise  up  from 
your  prayers,  and  let  me  look  at  you ;  ha,  a  captain ! 
and  this?  a  lieutenant!*  Gentlemen,  you're  too 
dainty  to  be  shot  like  common  dogs;  we'll  not  let 
the  wolves  have  you ;  we  '11  put  you  out  of  their 
reach;  ha! — ha! — ha!  Out  of  reach  of  wolves,  do 
you  hear?  And  what's  this?"  continued  he,  turning 
to  Chane,  and  examining  his  shoulders.  "Bah, 
soldado  raso^  Irlandes  too^  carajo  /f  What  do  you 
do  fighting  among  these  heretics  against  your  own 
religion.  There  renegade!"  and  he  kicked  the  Irish- 
man in  the  ribs. 

"Thank  yer  honner,"  said  Chane,  with  a  grunt, 
"  small  fay vors  thankfully  resaved  ;  much  good  may 
it  do  yer  honner!  " 

"Here  Lopez!"  shouted  the  brigand. 

"Now  for  the  fire! "  thought  we. 

•  He  knew  our  rank  from  the  designations  upon  our  shoulder-straps. 
t  A  private,  an  Irishman  too. 


THE   JAERCHOS.  355 

"  Lopez,  I  say ! "  continued  he,  calling  louder. 

^^  Aca — acaP'^  answered  a  voice,  and  the  lieu- 
tenant who  had  guarded  us,  canio  up,  swinging  his 
scarlet  manga. 

"Lopez,  these,  I  perceive,  are  gentlemen  of  rank; 
and  we  must  usher  them  into  h  —  a  little  more  grace- 
fully ;  do  you  hear  ? " 

"Yes,  Captain,"  answered  the  griffe,  with  stoical 
composure. 

"  Over  the  cliffs,  Lopez.  Facilis  descensus  averni; 
but  you  don't  understand  Latin,  Lopez.  Over  the 
cliffs,  do  you  hear?    You  understand  that?" 

"Yes,  Captain,"  repeated  the  Jarocho,  moving 
only  his  lips. 

"  You  will  have  them  at  the  Eagle's  Cave,  by  six 
in  the  morning ;  by  six,  do  you  hear?" 

"Yes,  Captain,"  again  replied  the  subordinate. 

"And  if  any  of  them  is  missing — is  missing,  do 
you  hear?" 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"Yon  will  take  his  place  in  the  dance — the  dance, 
ha — ha — ha !    You  understand  that,  Lopez  ? " 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"Enough  then,  good  Lopez — handsome  Lopez, 
beautiful  Lopez ;  enr^ugh,  and  good  night  to  you  I " 


356  THE   JAEOCHOS. 

Whatever  miglit  be  the  nature  of  the  punishment 
that  awaited  us  at  the  Eagle's  Cave,  it  was  evident 
that  Lopez  had  no  intention  of  becoming  proxy  for 
any  of  us.  This  was  plain  from  the  manner  in  which 
he  set  about  securing  us.  We  were  first  gagged  with 
bayonet  shanks,  and  then  dragged  out  into  the  bushes. 

Here  we  were  thrown  upon  our  backs,  each  of  us 
in  the  center  of  four  trees,  that  formed  a  parallelogram. 
Our  arms  and  legs  were  stretched  to  their  full  extent, 
and  tied  severally  to  the  trees;  and  thus  we  lay, 
spread  out  like  raw-hides  to  dry.  Our  savage  captors 
drew  the  cords  so  taut,  that  our  joints  cracked  under 
the  cruel  tension.  In  this  painful  position,  with  a 
Jarocho  standing  over  each  of  .us,  we  passed  the 
remainder  of  the  night. 

It  was  a  long  night — the  longest  I  can  remember  : 
a  night  that  fully  illustrated  the  horror  of  monotony. 
I  can  compare  our  feelings  to  those  of  one  under  the 
influence  of  the  nightmare.  But  no — worse  than 
that.  Our  savage  sentries  occasionally  sat  down 
upon  our  bodies,  and,  lighting  their  cigarettos, 
chatted  gaily,  while  we  groaned!  We  could  not 
protest ;  we  were  gagged.  But  it  would  have  made 
little  difference;  they  would  only  have  mocked  us 
the  more. 


THE  JAEOCHOS.  3^ 

We  lay  glaring  upon  the  moon,  as  she  coursed 
through  a  cloudy  heaven.  The  wind  whistled 
through  the  leaves,  and  its  melancholy  moaning 
sounded  like  our  death-dirge.  Several  times  during 
the  night,  I  heard  the  howl  of  the  prairie  wolf,  and  I 
knew  it  was  Lincoln ;  but  the  Jarochos  had  pickets 
all  around ;  and  the  hunter  dared  not  approach  our 
position.    He  could  not  have  helped  us. 

The  morning  broke  at  last;  and  we  were  taken 
up,  and  tied  upon  the  backs  of  vicious  mules,  and 
hurried  off  through  the  woods.  We  traveled  for  some 
distance  along  a  ridge,  until  we  had  reached  its  highest 
point,  where  the  cliff  beetled  over.  Here  we  were 
unpacked  and  thrown  upon  the  grass.  About  thirty 
of  the  Jarochos  guarded  us,  and  we  now  saw 
them  TinAer  the  broad  light  of  day,  but  they  did  not 
look  a  whit  more  beautiful  than  on  the  preceding 
night. 

Lopez  was  at  their  head,  and  never  relaxed  his 
vigilance  for  a  moment.  It  was  plain  that  he  con- 
sidered the  padre  a  man  of  his  word. 

An  exclamation  from  one  of  the  men  drew  our 
attention ;  and,  looking  around,  we  perceived  a  band 
of  horsemen  straggling  up  the  hill  at  a  slow  gallop. 
It  was  Jarauta,  with  about  fifty  of  his  followers. 


358  THE  JAKOCHOS. 

^''Buenas  dias^  caballeros  !  "^  cried  he,  m  a  mocking 
tone,  leaping  down  and  approaching  us  :  "I  hope  you 
passed  the  night  comfortably.  Lopez,  I  am  sure, 
provided  you  with  good  beds.    Didn't  you,  Lopez? " 

*' Yes,  Captain,"  answered  the  laconic  Lopez.   ^^ — 

"The  gentlemen  rested  well,  didn't  they,  Lopez?" 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"No  kicking,  or  tumbling  about,  eh?" 

"]^o.  Captain." 

"  Oh !  then  they  rested  well ;  it 's  a  good  thing ;  they 
have  a  long  journey  before  them,  havn't  they,  Lopez?" 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"I  hope,  gentlemen,  you  are  ready  for  the  road. 
Do  you  think  you  are  ready? " 

As  each  of  us  had  the  shank  of  a  bayonet  between 
his  teeth,  besides  being  tied  neck  and  heels',  it  is  not 
likely  that  this  interrogatory  received  a  reply;  nor 
did  his  reverence  expect  any,  as  he  continued  putting 
similar  questions  in  quick  succession,  appealing 
occasionally  to  his  lieutenant  for  an  answer. 

The  latter,  who  was  of  the  taciturn  school,  con- 
tented himself,  and  his  superior  too,  with  a  simple 

*  "  Good  day,  gentlemen,"  the  usual  raovning  salutation.  There  is 
no  "good  morning"  in  Spanish;  the  words  "buena  manan"  which 
•ignify  tbtit,  never  passing  the  lipe  of  a  Spaniard. 


JAEOCHOS.  359 

"yes,"  or  "no."  Up  to  this  moment,  we  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  fate  that  awaited  us.  We  knew 
we  had  to  die — that  we  knew;  but  in  what  way, 
we  were  still  ignorant.  I,  for  one,  had  made  up  my 
mind  that  the  padre  intended  pitching  us  over  the 
cliffs. 

We  were  at  length  enlightened  upon  this  important 
point.  We  were  not  to  take  that  awful  leap  into 
eternity,  which  I  had  been  picturing  to  myself.  A 
fate  more  horrible  still,  awaited  us.  We  were  to  he 
hanged  over  the  jprecipice  / 

As  if  to  aid  the  monster  in  his  inhuman  design, 
several  pine  trees  grew  out  horizontally  from  the  edge 
of  the  cliffe ;  and  over  the  branches  of  these,  the 
Jarochos  commenced  reeving  their  long  lassoes.  Ex- 
pert in  the  handling  of  ropes,  as  all  Mexicans  are, 
they  were  not  long  in  completing  their  preparations, 
and  we  soon  beheld  our  gallows.  What  they  can  ac- 
complish with  ropes  and  cords  is  almost  incredible. 
I  had  a  Mexican  servant,  a  mere  lad,  who  could  lash 
my  chests  quicker  and  firmer,  and  more  sure  not  to 
come  undone,  than  could  be  accomplished  by  any 
two  of  our  soldiers.  I  have  seen  them  tie  up  the  'bois 
de  vache'  in  ropes,  and  thus  carry  it  on  the  backs  of 
donkeys  ;  and  I  was  almost  tempted  to  believe  them 


360  THE   JAKOCHOS. 

capable  of  that  feat  hitherto  deemed  impossible,  of 
tyiDg  up  sand  in  a  rope. 

"  According  to  rank,  Lopez,"  cried  Jaranta,  seeing 
that  all  was  ready ;  the  captain  first — do  you  hear? " 

"Yes,  Captain,"  answered  the  imperturbable  bri- 
gand who  superintended  the  operations. 

"  I  shall  keep  you  to  the  last,  Monsieur,"  said  the 
priest,  addressing  Eaoul ;  "  you  will  have  the  pleasure 
of  bringing  up  the  rear  in  your  passage  through 
purgatory.    Ha — ha — ha !     Won't  he,  Lopez  ? " 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"  May  be  some  of  you  would  like  a  priest,  gentle- 
men." This  Jarauta  uttered  with  an  ironical  grin 
that  was  revolting  to  behold.  "If  you  would,"  he 
continued,  "say  so.  I  sometimes  officiate  in  that 
capacity  myself.     Don't  I,  Lopez?  "  < 

"Yes,  Captain." 

A  diabolical  laugh  burst  from  the  Jarochos,  who 
had  dismounted,  and  were  standing  out  upon  the 
clifi",  the  better  to  witness  the  spectacle  of  our  hang- 
ing. 

"Well,  Lopez,  does  any  of  them  say  ^yes'?" 

"No,  Captain." 

"Ask  the  Irishman  there;  ask  him;  he  ought  to 
be  a  good  Catholic." 


THE  JAKOCHOS.  361 

The  question  was  put  to  Chane — in  mockery,  of 
course  ;  for  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  answer  it ; 
and  yet  he  did  answer  it,  for  his  look  spoke  a  curse, 
as  plainly  as  if  it  had  been  uttered  through  a  trumpet. 
The  Jarochos  did  not  heed  that,  but  only  laughed  tho 
louder. 

"Well,  Lopez,  what  says  St.  Patrick?  'Yes' 
or*  no'?" 

"Ko,  Captain." 

And  a  fresh  peal  of  ruflSan  laughter  rang  out.  The 
rope  was  placed  around  my  neck  in  a  running  noose. 
The  other  end  had  been  passed  over  the  tree,  and  lay 
coiled  near  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  Lopez  held  it  in 
his  hand  a  short  distance  above  the  coil,  in  order  to 
direct  its  movements. 

"All  ready  there,  Lopez?"  cried  the  leader. 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"  Swing  off  the  captain,  then — no,  not  yet ;  let  him 
look  at  the  floor  on  which  he  is  going  to  dance ;  that 
is  but  fair." 

I  had  been  drawn  forward,  until  my  feet  projected 

over  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  close  to  the  root 

of  the  tree.    I  was  now  forced  into  a  sitting  posture, 

BO  that  I  might  look  below,  my  limbs  hanging  over. 

Strange  to  say,  I  could  not  resist  doing  exactly  what 
16 


362  THE  JAEOCHOS. 

my  tormentor  wished.  Under  other  circumstances 
the  sight  would  have  been  to  me  appalling ;  but  my 
nerves  were  strung  by  the  protracted  agony  I  had 
been  forced  to  endure. 

The  precipice,  on  whose  verge  I  sat,  formed  a 
side  of  one  of  those  yawning  gulfs  common  in  Span- 
ish America,  and  known  by  the  name  harrancas.  It 
seemed  as  if  a  mountain  had  been  scooped  out  and 
carried  away.  IS'ot  two  hundred  yards,  horizontally 
distant,  was  the  twin  jaw  of  the  chasm,  like  a  black- 
burnt  wall ;  yet  the  torrent  that  roared  and  foamed 
between  them  was  full  six  hundred  feet  below  my 
position!  I  could  have  flung  the  stump  of  a  cigar 
upon  the  water ;  in  fact  an  object  dropping  vertically 
frpm  where  I  sat,  for  it  was  a  projecting  point,  must 
have  fallen  plump  into  the  stream. 

It  was  not  unlike  the  caiion  where  we  had  tossed 
over  the  dogs ;  but  it  was  higher,  and  altogether  more 
deadful  and  horrible. 

As  I  looked  down,  several  small  birds,  whose  spe- 
cies I  did  not  stay  to  distinguish,  were  screaming 
below,  and  an  eagle  on  his  broad  bold  wing  came 
soaring  over  the  abyss,  and  flapped  up  to  my  very 
face. 

"Well  Captain,"   broke    in    the    sharp    voice  ot 


TBDB  JAUOCHOS.  363 

Jarauta,  "  what  do  you  think  of  it;  a  nice  soft  floor 
to  dance  upon,  is  n't  it?    Is  n't  it,  Lopez?" 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"All  ready  there?  Stop!  some  music;  we  must 
have  music;  how  can  he  dance  without  music? 
Holloa  I  Sancho,  where 's  your  bugle  ? " 

"Here,  Captain!" 

"  Strike  up  then ;  play  Yankee  Doodle.  Ha !  ha  I 
ha  I    Yankee  Doodle,  do  you  hear?" 

"Yes,  Captain,"  answered  the  man  ;  and  the  next 
moment  the  well-known  strains  of  the  American 
national  air  sounded  upon  my  ear,  producing  a 
strange,  sad  feeling,  I  shall  never  forget. 

"  Now,  Lopez,"  cried  the  padre. 

I  was  expecting  to  be  swung  out,  when  I  heard 
him  again  shout  "  stay ! "  at  the  same  time  stopping 
the  music. 

"  By  heavens !  Lopez,  I  have  a  better  plan,"  he 
cried  ;  "  why  did  I  not  think  of  it  before  ?  It 's  not 
too  late,  yet.  Ha !  ha !  ha !  Carrambo !  They 
shall  dance  upon  their  heads !  That 's  better,  is  n't 
it,  Lopez  ? " 

"Yes,  Captain." 

A  cheer  from  the  Jarochos  announced  their  ap- 
proval of  this  change  in  the  ceremony. 


364  THE  JAEOOHOS. 

The  padre  made  a  sign  to  Lopez,  who  approached 
him,  appearing  to  receive  some  directions. 

I  did  not  at  first  comprehend  the  novelty  that  was 
about  to  be  introduced.  I  was  not  long  in  ignorance. 
One  of  the  Jarochos,  seizing  me  by  the  collar, 
dragged  me  back  from  the  ledge,  and  transferred  the 
noose  from  my  neck  to  my  ankles.  Horror  heaped 
upon  horror  I  I  was  to  be  liung  head  downward^ 
and  thus  left  to  die  hy  inches  ! 

"  That  will  be  much  prettier,  won't  it,  Lopez  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Captain." 

"  The  gentleman  will  have  time  to  make  himself 
ready  for  Heaven  before  he  dies ;  won't  he,  Lopez?" 

"Yes,  Captain." 

"Take  out  the  gag  ;  let  him  have  his  tongue  free  : 
he  '11  need  that  to  pray  with  ;  won't  he  Lopez  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Captain." 

One  of  the  Jarochos  jerked  the  bayonet  roughly 
from  my  mouth,  almost  dislocating  my  jaw.  The 
power  of  speech  was  gone.  I  could  not,  if  I  had 
wished  it,  have  uttered  an  intelligible  word, 

"  Give  him  his  hands,  too  ;  he  '11  need  them  to 
keep  off  the  Zopilotes  'j'^  won't  he  Lopez  ? " 

"Yes  Captain." 

•The  blacV  vulture  of  Mexico. 


THE  JAEOCHOS.  365 

The  thong  that  bound  my  wrists  was  cut,  leaving  my 
hands  free.  I  was  on  my  back,  my  feet  toward  the 
precipice.  A  little  to  my  right  stood  Lopez  holding 
the  rope  that  was  about  to  launch  me  into  eternity. 

"  !Now,  the  music !  Take  the  music  for  your  cue, 
Lopez  ;  then  jerk  him  up !  "  cried  the  sharp  voice  of 
the  fiend. 

I  shut  my  eyes  —  waiting  for  the  pull.  It  was  but 
a  moment,  but  it  seemed  a  lifetime.  There  was  a 
dead  silence  —  a  stillness  like  that  which  precedes 
the  bursting  of  a  rock,  or  the  firing  of  a  jubilee-gun. 
Then  I  heard  the  first  note  of  the  bugle,  and  along 
with  it  a  crack  —  the  crack  of  a  rifle !  A  man 
staggered  over  me,  besprinkling  my  face  with  blood ; 
and,  falling  forward,  disappeared. 

Then  came  the  pluck  upon  my  ancles,  and  I  was 
jerked,  head  downward,  into  the  empty  air.  I  felt 
my  feet  touching  the  branches  above ;  and  throwing 
up  my  arms,  I  grasped  one,  and  swung  my  body 
upward.  After  two  or  three  efforts,  I  lay  along  the 
main  trunk,  which  I  embraced  with  the  hug  of  despair. 
I  looked  downward.  A  man  was  hanging  below — - 
far  below —  at  the  end  of  the  lariat !  It  was  Lopez. 
I  knew  his  scarlet  manga  at  a  glance.  He  was 
hanging  by  the  thigh,  in  a  snarl  of  the  rope. 


366  THE  JAROCHOS. 

His  hat  had  fallen  off.  I  could  see  the  red  blood 
running  over  his  face,  and  drij)ping  from  his  long 
snaky  locks.  He  hung  head  down.  I  could  see 
that  he  was  dead  I 

The  hard  thong  was  cutting  my  ancles,  and,  oh, 
heaven!  under  our  united  weight,  the  roots  were 
cracking ! 

Appalling  thought !  "  the  tree  will  give  way  !  " 
\^  I  held  fast  with  one  arm.  I  drew  forth  my  knife — ' 
fortunately  I  still  had  one  —  with  the  other.  I  opened 
the  blade  with  my  teeth  ;  and,  stretching  backward 
and  downward,  I  drew  it  across  the  thong.  It  parted 
with  a  "  snig,"  and  the  red  object  left  me  like  a  flash 
of  light.  There  was  a  plunge  upon  the  black  water 
below  —  a  plunge  and  a  few  white  bubbles,  but  the 
body  of  the  Jarocho,  with  its  scarlet  trappings,  never 
came  up  after  that  plunge. 

During  all  this  time,  shots  were  ringing  over  me. 
I  could  hear  the  shouts  and  cheering  of  men,  the 
trampling  of  heavy  hoofs  and  the  clashing  of  sabers. 
I  knew  that  some  strange  deliverance  had  reached  us. 
I  knew  that  a  skirmish  was  going  on  above  me  ;  but 
I  could  see  nothing.  I  was  below  the  level  of  the 
cliff. 

I  lay  in  a  terrible  suspense  —  listening.    I  dared 


THE  JAEOCH0S.  367 

not  change  my  posture.  I  dared  not  move.  The 
weight  of  the  Jarocho's  body  had  hitherto  held  my 
feet  securely  in  the  notch ;  but  that  was  gone ;  and 
my  ancles  were  still  tied.  A  movement,  and  my  legs 
might  fall  off  the  limb ;  and  drag  me  downward.  I 
was  faint  too,  from  the  protracted  struggle  for  life  and 
death,  and  I  hugged  the  tree,  and  held  on  like  a 
wounded  squirrel.* 

The  shots  seemed  less  frequent ;  the  shouts  appeared 
to  recede  from  the  cliffs.  Then  I  heard  a  cheer — an 
Anglo  Saxon  cheer,  an  American  cheer  —  and  the 
next  moment,  a  well-known  voice  rang  in  my  ears. 

"By  the  livin  catamount!  he's  yeer  yit!  whooray  I 

whoop  I    Niver  say  die !    Hole  on  Cap'n,  teeth  an 

toe-nail !   Yeer,  boys !  clutch  on  a  wheen  o'Jyer !  quick, 

,hook  my  claws,  ISTat!  now — pull — all  thegether! 

Hooray  1 " 

I  felt  a  strong  hand  grasping  the  collar  of  my  coat, 
and  I  was  raised  from  my  perch,  and  landed  upon 
the  top  of  the  cliff. 

I  looked  around  upon  my  deliverers.  Lincoln  was 
dancing  like  a  lunatic,  uttering  his  wild,  half-Indian 
yells.    A  dozen  men,  in  the  dark  green  uniform  of 

•  These  little  animals,  when  wounded,  will  often  hang  suspended 
upon  a  branch  till  life  is  extinct 


368  THE   JAKOCHOS. 

the  "  mounted  rifles,"  stood  looking  on,  and  laughing 
at  this  grotesque  exhibition.  Close  by,  another  party 
were  guarding  some  prisoners ;  while  a  hundred 
others  were  seen,  in  scattered  groups,  along  the  ridge, 
returning  from  the  pursuit  of  the  Jarochos,  whom 
they  had  completely  routed. 


BANGER  S    BEST    SHOT. 


Wilson  and  Cameron  stood  apart  from  their  com- 
panions. With  folded  arms  and  thoughtful  faces, 
they  watched  the  shadows  of  night  stealing  over  lake 
and  chapparel. 

"  An  hour  like  this  casts  a  spell  upon  my  spirit," 
said  Cameron.  "  I  love  to  see  the  glare  of  day  fade, 
and  give  place  to  the  dim,  placid  twilight." 

"I  have  similar  feelings,"  replied  Wilson,  "  but 
I  like  night  best  when  more  advanced  toward  the 
small  hours,  and  the  moon  and  stars  are  brightly 
beaming." 

Cameron  made  no  reply,  and  the  parties  remained 
silent.    Wilson  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"  That 's  a  heavy  rifle  of  y^ur's,"  he  said,  glancing 

at  the  weapon  upon  which  Cameron  was  leaning." 

"  I  dare  say  it  has  been  of  service  to  you  in  its  time." 

"  'No  money  could  induce  me  to  part  with  it,  because 
16* 


370 

I  have  proved  its  metal  on  many  occasions.  Did  1 
ever  tell  you  of  an  adventure  that  I  had  once  near 
RedKiver?" 

"  You  never  did  ;  I  should  like  to  hear  it,"  said 
Wilson. 

"Several  years  ago,"  resumed  Cameron,  ''I  was 
hunting  near  Cros^  Timbers,  not  far  from  Red  River. 
The  Indians  were  then  troublesome,  and  frequently 
committed  their  depredations  upon  the  frontier 
settlements :  but  I  was  fond  of  hunting  and  cared 
little  for  them,  willing  to  trust  to  my  own  courage 
and  ingenuity  in  any  emergency  that  might,  occur. 
I  carried  this  same  rifle,  and  was  called  one  of  the 
best  shots  in  the  country. 

"Many  people  said  the  piece  was  too  heavy  for 
common  use;  but  I  was  accustomed  to  it,  and  it 
didn't  feel  burdensome  to  me;  and  when  I  fired,  it 
was  sure  to  do  the  right  thing,  for  what  animal  could 
carry  off  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  lead,  skillfully  sped 
on  its  errand  T 

"Having  discovered  Indian  signs  one  daj^  I  thought 
it  best  to  change  my  hunting  ground ;  and  so  put 
a  considerable  distance  between  me  and  the  spot,  and 
encamped  on  a  wide  prairie,  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  Cross  Timbers.     Not  long  after  tliis  event.  I  was 


371 

Bitting  on  the  bank  of  a  small  stream,  resting  my 
weary  limbs  after  a  long  and  fatiguing  hunt,  when  I 
was  fired  upon  and  slightly  wounded. 

"I  was  fortunate  enough  to  discover  the  marksman, 
who  proved  to  be  an  Indian  —  of  what  tribe  I  do  not 
now  remember — I  instantly  shot  him  dead,  and  then 
perceived  that  he  was  not  alone;  for  one  of  his 
brethren  was  with  him,  who  made  good  his  escape. 
Time  passed  on,  and  I  was  undisturbed  in  my 
amusements  for  a  long  time. 

"  One  day,  not  feeling  very  w^U,  I  returned  to  my 
camp  sooner  than  usual.  I  laid  down  to  sleep,  but 
could  not.  I  felt  uneasy  and  nervous,  and  so  arose 
and  went  out  on  the  prairie.  The  grass  was  not  very 
tall,  and  the  hot  suns  of  the  season  had  dried  it  until 
it  was  crispy,  and  rattled  as  I  walked  through  it.  I 
ascended  a  gentle  swell  and  looked  around  me.  The 
scene  was  a  grand  one.  On  one  hand  were  the  Cross 
Timbers,  dimly  seen  in  the  distance,  resembling  a 
dense  wall  of  wood  built  by  human  Bands ;  while  in 
every  other  direction  the  prairie  stretched  away  until 
lost  in  the  distance.  The  sun  was  getting  low,  and 
looked  like  a  sunset  on  the  sea.  As  my  eyes 
wandered  from  point,  to  point  they  were  suddenly 
fixed  upon  a  solitary  figure  several  hundred  yards 


872 

distant,  at  the  foot  of  the  long  swell  or  roll  upon 
which  I  was  standing. 

"  He  stood  in  an  open  space,  and  at  first  I  wondered 
how  that  could  be,  as  the  grass  was  so  high  in  every 
other  place;  but  the  affair  soon  explained  itself. 
More  careful  examination  showed  me  that  the  solitary- 
object  was  an  Indian,  and  his  object  in  plucking  up 
the  dry  grass  was  evident ;  he  was  going  to  fire  the 
prairie!  It  was  doubtless  the  same  fellow  that  had 
escaped  at  the  time  I  had  been  fired  on.  He  had 
discovered  my  retreat,  and  was  about  to  revenge  his 
comrade  in  a  signal  manner. 

"The  wind  was  blowing  fresh  toward  me,  and  if  the 
grass  had  been  set  on  fire  no  power  on  earth  could 
have  saved  me,  for  the  fleetest  horse  could  not  run 
fast  enough  to  escape  its  devouring  flames.  A  terrible 
dread  of  that  kind  of  death  came  over  me.  I  stood 
like  one  fascinated,  and  gazed  at  the  preparations  of 
the  savage.  He  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  open 
•space  he  had  made,  with  a  burning  torch  in  his  hand. 
Innumerable  thoughts  rushed  through  my^mind  in  an 
in  Stan  fc  of  time.  I  was  never  so  completely  paralyzed 
and  stupefied  before  in  my  life.  The  power  of  thought 
seemed  to  be  the  only  power  left  me,  and  that  was 
Btimulated  to  an  unnatural  degree.     The  past,  present, 


fTHE   RANGEK's   best  SHOT.  373 

and  future,  were  reviewed  and  speculated  upon,  in 
that  brief  and  broken  fragment  of  time  in  which 
the  savage  stood  waiting  for  the  brand  to  burn  more 
brightly  before  thrusting  it  into  the  grass. 

"Yes,  my  destiny  was  to  be  burned! — some  hunter 
or  traveler  would  find  my  body  charred  and  black- 
ened ;  and  others  after  a  time  would  pass  my  bones 
bleaching  in  the  STin. 

"I  shuddered  ;  my  eyes  felt  hot ;  my  throat  was  dry, 
and  I  imagined  that  I  felt  the  flames  creeping  over 
me.  If  it  had  been  a  danger  that  I  could  have 
battled  with,  or,  if  I  could  have  seen  any  chance  for 
escape  depending  upon  my  own  exertions,  it  would 
have  been  different ;  but  now  all  I  could  do  was  to 
stand  and  stare  the  most  dreadful  of  all  deaths  in  the 
face. 

"  You  must  remember  that  all  these  ideas  and  re- 
flections rushed  through  my  mind  in  the  shortest 
appreciable  space  of  time ;  for  you  must  know  that 
the  sudden  prospect  of  great' danger  from  which  there 
is  no  apparent  mode  of  escape,  imparts  to  the  brain  a 
horrible  faculty  of  thought,  of  which  the  mind  jit  ease 
can  form  no  possible  conception.  ^ 

"  I  closed  my  eyes  in  prayer,  and  commended  my 
soul  to  God  ;  but  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  close 


874  THE  ranger's  best  shot.- 

mj  eyes  against  the  one  great  and  absorbing  idea  in 
my  mind  —  that  of  being  burnt  up  like  a  vile  reptile 
that  crawls  in  the  weeds. 

"My  lips  unclosed  ;  as  they  did  so,  iriy  eyes  rested 
upon  my  trusty  rifle  ;  it  was  the  first  time  I  had 
thought  of  it,  for  the  distance  w^as  great  between  me 
and  my  enemy  ;  but  now  it  looked  like  an  old  friend, 
and  the  only  one  that  had  the  power  to  save  me. 

"I  embraced  the  thought  that  the  sight  of  my 
rifle  called  up  —  a  species  of  joy  which  is  nearly 
overpowered  by  an  antagonizing  feeling. 

"  One  chance  still  remained  —  a  small  chance,  it 
was  true,  but  still  a  chance  ;  and  despair  cannot 
completely  paralyze  and  subdue  the  heart,  while  even 
one  faint  hope  remained.  I  lifted  the  instrument 
upon  which  hung  my  destiny.  As  my  glance  ran 
over  the  intervening  distance,  I  felt  how  desperate 
indeed  was  my  prospect  of  life  ;  for  an  hundred  good 
marksmen  might  try  their  skill  in  vain,  in  aiming 
at  an  object  so  far  off.  Then  I.  remembered  that  my 
weapon  was  of  uncommon  calibre  and  weight,  and 
would  throw  a  l)all  furtWej*  than  any  I  had  ever  seen. 
I  recollecjjed|also,  that  I  had  loaded  it  that  very  day 
with  uncommoii  care,  and  for  a  long  shot. 

"  The  Iiidian  moved  fiie  torch,  and  was  about  to 


S75 

apply  it  to  the  combustible  material ;  there  was  no 
time  to  lose.  The  rifle  came  to  my  shoulder  quick 
and  firm,  and  I  braced  up  my  nerves  for  a  ready  aim 
with  a  strong  effort  of  the  will.  I  looked  through  the 
'double  sights,'  and  the  muzzle  covered  the  Indian's 
head.  My  heart  seemed  to  stop  beating,  held  in  the 
grasp  of  that  terrible  suspense.  It  was  but  an 
instant — then  the  rifle  sent  an  ounce  and  a  half  of 
lead  on  its  mission  with  a  crack  that  was  .unusually 
loud  and  sharp,  and  a  recoil  which  threw  me  back  a 
few  paces, 

**The  smoke  curled  away,  but  I  dared  not  look. 
I  passed  my  hand  slowly  across  my  forehead,  for  my 
brain  was  throbbing  painfully.  Every  moment  I 
expected  to  be  greeted  by  a  dense  smoke  from  the 
burning  prairie,  and  to  hear  the  hissing  of  the  burn- 
ing flame  ;  but  nothing  of  the  kind  occurred,  and  1 
ventured  to  look  toward  the  spot  where  the  savage 
had  stood  with  his  torch  ;  I  took  courage,  reloaded 
my  rifle,  and  hastily  walked  toward  the  place. 

"  I  reached  it  —  the  Indian  lay  upon  his  back,  the 
brand  half  extinguished,  beside  him  ^  an  ounce  and 
a  half  of  lead  had  passed  through  his  h^d.  I  sank 
down,  overpowered  with  gratitude,  and  the*various 
emotions  which  such  an  incident'  was  calcinated  to 


876 

inspire.  .This  was  the  greatest  shot  I  ever  made,  and 
probably  shall  never  equal  it  again.  Can  you  won- 
der that  I  am  at  ached  to  the  rifle  ? " 

"Not    at  all,"  said  the  Captain  earnestly.      "I 
should  never  part  with  it,  if  it  was  mine." 


MAGNIFICENT  WORK  OF  HISTORY. 

^   WhoU  Zibrary  in  Itself  I 
Cost  $11,000  —  1201  Pages— TO  Maps— TOO  Eng^raving^s* 


HISTORY  OF  ALL  NATIONS, 

FB03I  THE  EAELTE8T  PEKIOD  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME  ; 
OB, 

IN  WmOH  XHB 

HISTORY  OP  EYERT  NATION,  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN, 

IB  BKPARATKLT  GIVEN. 

BY    S.   G.   GOODRICH, 

CoMul  to  Parig^and  Author  ofaeceral  Works  o/EUiory,  ParUfffi  Taha,  tie. 

It  contains  1207  pages,  royal  octavo,  and  is  illustrated  by  70  Maps  and  700  Engrayings: 
bound  in  imitation  Turkey  nxorocco. 

Invariable  retail  price,  $6,00  in  one  volume ;  $7,00  in  two  volumes. 

The  same,  fUU  gilt  ed^a  and  sides,  $8,00  in  one  volume ;  $10,00  in  two  voK 


*0*  It  is  believed  that  the  above  work,  by  Mr.  Goodrich,  will  be  very  acceptable 
•^  the  American  public.  It  is  the  result  of  years  of  toil. and  labor,  assisted  in  his  re- 
searches by  several  scholars  (rf  known  ability,  and  has  been  gotten  up  at  a  great  ex- 
pense by  the  proprietors.  No  pains  have  been  spared  in  the  execution  of  the  Illustra- 
tJons  and  Maps,  which  are  entirely  new,  and  prepared  by  the  distinguished  author 
escpreidy  for  the  work.  Indeed,  all  the  other  historical  writings  of  Mr.  Goodrich 
sink  into  insignificance,  when  coroparod  with  this,  the  result  of  his  riper  jvnd  maturer 
years.  It  is  admitted  that  07w  Hundred  Dollars  could  not 'purchase  the  same  mat- 
ter in  any  other  shape :  and  the  ptiblLshers  confidently»eypcct  that,  in  consideration 
of  the  great  literary  value  of  the  work,  the  large  sito  es^nded  in  preparing  it  for  the 
press,  and  the  exceedingly  mo<lerate  price  at  which  iris  offered,  that  it  will  be  favor* 
•bly  received  by  every  lover  of  good  books. 

Published  by  Miller,  Orton  <fe  Mulligan, 

No.  25  Park  Row,  New  York,  and  107  Geiiesee-st.,  Auburn. 


^ 


LIFE  ON  THE  PLAINS, 

And  among  the  Diggings,  being  scenes  and  adventures  of  an 

OverlandJoiirney  to  California,  with  particular  Incidents  of  the 

Route  Sufferings  of  the  Emigrants,  Indian  Tribes,  <fec. 

By  A.  Delano.     384  pp.  12mo  illus.   Price  $1,25.  • 


BRIEF    EXTRACTS    FROM    LENGTHY    NOTICES. 

Picking  up  the  book,  with  Rn  armful  of  otliers,  purposing  a  cursory  glance  at  each 
before  examining  more  closely,  we  confess  to  having  forgotten  the  rest,  and  read  K 
through  witliout  stopping. — Philadelphia  Sat.  Eve.  Post. 

This  book  gives  the  fullest  view  that  we  have  seen  grouped  together  of  the  characters, 
habits  and  privations  of  the  emigrants  of  1S49  and  1850,  with  the  Incidents  ordinary  aud 
extraordinary,  which  attended  their  journey. — N.  Y.  Baptist  Register. 

It  is  qtiite  graphic  and  particular  in  its  details.  We  know  not  where  to  find  a  work  of 
Bimiiar  intention,  with  equal  information  and  interest — N.  Y.  Times. 

This  wtrk  will  prove  an  Interesting  one  to  these  contemplating  an  overland  jonr- 
ney  to  the  golden  regions,  as  well  as  a  pleasant  fiieside  companion  in  a  long  winter  eve- 
ning.— Bodon  Olive  Branch. 

."We  are  most  happy  to  commend  the  above  readable  book  to  our  many  fHeuds,  hut 
most  especially  so  to  those  wlio  are  bound  "westward  hoi*' — Ohio  Statesman. 

"We  sit  down  to  a  more  thorough  reafling  of  Mr.  Delano's  valuable  work,  a  cursory  pe- 
rusal having  given  us  a  desire  to  enjoy  at  our  leisure  its  exciting  pages.— P/uYa.  Cmcr. 

The  author's  narrative  will  not  only  be  found  of  absorbing  interest  to  the  general  read- 
er, but  also  of  great  value  as  a  guide  to  such  as  may  venture  to  make  a  similar  journey 
to  the  land  of  gok\.— Dodge's  LUeraj'y  Museum. 

Some  of  the  anthor's  trials  and  adventures  on  the  road — or  rather  where  there  was 
no  road — forcibly  remind  us  of  the  tribulations  and  am'using  mislfaps  related  in  "  Yusef 
— a  Crusade  in  the  East"— iJwr'oZ  New  Yorker. 

When  the  book  has  once  been  commenced,  it  will  he  found  ]»ard  to  cease  the  perusal, 
until  it  contents  are  all  devoure^L    We  predict  for  it  a  large  sale.— CAm^.  Amhas. 

This  is  a  book  brim  full  of  interesting  incidents,  hair  breadth  escapes,  mistakes  and 
Bufferings  of  tlie  emigrant  party  to  which  the  author  belonged,  as  experienced  in  travel- 
ing to  California  by  way  of  the  great  West — N.  Y.  Organ, 

This  is  one  of  the  most  readable,  and  perhaps  the  most  useful  of  the  "  California 
Books." — Galena  Advertiser. 

He  has  given  a  very  interesting  account  of  his  journey. — Cayuga  Cliief. 

The  perils  and  hardships  of  the  journey  are  vividly  depicted,  interspersed  with  nlany 
laughable  scenes  of  emigrant  lite. — Auburn  Daily  Advertiser. 

A  more  interesting  volume  has  not  been  given  to  the  public  in  along  time.  Tlie  author 
evinces  a  most  observant  eye,  and  writes  in  an  easy,  flowing  strain. — Philadelphia  Dol- 
lar  Nenjcapaper. 

It  is  a  very  readable  book  and  will  find  an  extensive  sale. —  Wesleyan,  Syracuse. 

The  work  must  have  a  practical  utility  to  those  designiv.g  to  make  the  journey,  and 
to  all,  a  very  novel  aud  exciting  phase  of  this,  our  American  life. — N.  Y.  Evaitgelisi. 

It  is  in  the  form  of  a  diary,  and  sets  forth  the  vicissitudes,  trials  and  comic  incidents 
of  their  romantic  mode  of  life,  in  a  lively  yet  apparently  veracious  -w&y.—LuUieram,  0J>' 
server,  Baltiniore, 

Tlie  writer  seems  to  have  been  bent  on  seeing  everything  that  was  to  be  seen,  on  the 
Journey,  and  liis  narrative  is  full  of  life  and  interest  Ilis  jiages  doubtless  give  a  very  fair 
picture  of  a  trip  across  the  continent  with  its  romance  and  its  hardships,  its  pleasures 
and  its  perils.— A^.  EngUind  Farmer. 

It  c«>ntain8  much  interesting  and  valuable  information  respecting  the  country  and  the 
hablt-s,  manners  and  cliaracter  of  several  Indian  tribes:  alsc  sketches  exhibiting  the  pro- 
grts.s  and  jiresent  c4»n(lition  of  society  in  California.  It  Is  altogether  an  amusing  and. In 
btructlvo  \o\\xnxe).— Pittsburgh  (Jhiisiian  Avdocate. 

Published  by  MILLER,  ORTON  &  MULLIGAN", 
No.  25  Park  Row,  New  York,  aud  107  Geuesee-st.,  Aubuen. 


THE  AUSTRALIAN  CAPTIYE, 


OR,  15  YEARS  ADVENTURE  OP  WM.  JACKMAN. 

Including  his  Eesidence  among  the  Cannibals  of  ISTnyts 
Land,  with  Portaits  and  other  Illustrations.     Edited 
by  Rev.  I.  Chambeklain.  Muslin,  392  pp.*12mo.* 
Price  $1,25. 


Xotices  off  tike  Press— Brieff  Extracts. 

The  glowinjr  accounts  from  this  new  Oplifr  have  been  so  well  authenticated  that  the 
Btatements  in  tins  volume  will  gain  ready  credence. — Rochexter  Democrat. 

This  is  a  neat  volume  of  some  400  pajres,  containing  a  new  clmjiter  in  the  history  of 
adventure;  the  hero  being  the  first  civilized  n\an  who  ever  returned  from  a  forced  and 
lengthened  residence  among  the  anthropophagi  of  New  Holland,  and  told  the  story  of  what 
he  f aw  and  suttert-d. — Rural  New   Yor-ker. 

He  gives  a  most  glowing  account  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  barbarous  people 
among  which  his  lot  was  cast — Republican  Adrocate. 

If  our  readers  will  procure  a  copy  of  it,  they  Avill  be  able  to  ascertain  the  means  em- 
plovod  toeft'ert  his  wonderful  escape,  and  the  many  dangers  to  which  he  was  exposetL— 
Ontario  Whig. 

Published  by  MILLER,  ORTON"  &  MULLIGAIf, 

No.  26  Park  Row,  NEwyoRK,aud  107  Geneaee-st.,  Auburn. 


SIDNEY'S  HISTORY  OF  AUSTRAIIA. ,. 

THREE  COLOIeFoF  AUSTRiLlA. 

NEW  SOUTH  WALES,  VICTORIA  &  SOUTH  AUSTRALIA 

THEIK 

Pastures^  Copper  Mines  &  Gold  Fields. 


BY   SAMUEL    SIDNEY. 
»~^ 

Ten  Illustrations.     Muslin,  408  pp  12mo.    Price  $1925. 


Brief  Extracts  from  Notices  of  the  Press. 


It  13  well  written,  well  printed,  and  worth  the  attention  of  all  Americans  who  tronid 
turn  their  faces  towards  Australia.— iV^.  T.  Times. 

"We  have  been  greatly  interested  in  the  work— so  mnch  so,  indeed,  that  we  could 
not  satisfy  ourselves  without  going  through  with  it  entire. — If.  Y.  Bap.  Reg. 

The  position  of  the  author,  and  the  unquestionable  sources  from  which  he  draws  bis 
information,  alfords  the  highest  evidence  that  his  details,  historical,  statistical  and  ge- 
ographical, are  accurate  and  reliable. — N.  Y.  Jour,  of  Knouledge. 

The  work  above  named  is  not  only  very  lively  and  interesting,  but  having  been  pre- 
pared by  a  gentleman  who  had  access  to  the  most  reliable  data,  it  furnishes  inst  the  infor- 
mation which  everybody  is  in  quest  o^  and  which  must  bo  invaluable  to  persons  intend- 
ing to  emigrate. — N.  Y.  'Org. 

This  work  aflPords  an  excellent  opportunity  for  becoming  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
Australia  and  its  mines,  for  the  writer  is  evidently  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  speaks  from 
actual,  personal  observation. — American  Courier. 

To  the  immigrant,  the  work  will,  it  is  believed,  furnish  a  safe  and  full  guide. — Dollar 
If^encapaper. 

Though  there  have  been  more  glowing  pictures  of  Antipodal  life,  we  have  yet  seen 
none  that  groups  so  many  facts,  and  imparts  so  clear  a  view. — N".  Y.  Evangelist. 

The  information  embodied  in  this  work  is  just  what  is  sought  for  by  every  one. — Sacine 
Daily  Advocate. 

Mr.  Sidney  has  in  this  work  given  to  the  world  a  volume  of  varied  and  useful  infor- 
mation concerning  the  Australian  El  Dorado. — Detroit  Advertiser, 

Those  who  wish  to  be  informed  in  relation  to  Australia  will  find  this  volume  complete 
In  its  information  and  exceedingly  interesting  in  all  its  detaih.— Lowell  Christian  Era^ 

This  is  a  handsome  12mo  of  408  pages,  neatly  illustrated  with  engravings,  abounding 
with  every  variety  of  interesting  information  respecting  Australia.— Zw^/t^A'aji  Observer. 

Every  iptelligent  reader  will  bo  deeply  interested  in  the  account  of  the  truly  phi- 
lanthropic labors  of  Mrs.  Citissiiolm,  who  has  contributed  so  largely-  to  tho  welfare  of 
A-UStralia,  by  the  colonization  of  her  own  sex. —  Yates  County  Whtij. 

Published  by  MILLLR,  ORTON  h  MULLIGAN, 
No.  25  Park  Row,  New  York,  and  10*7  Genesee-st.,  Auburn 


MILLER,  ORTON  d:  MULLIGAN  PUBLISH 

CFEEAT  MEN  AND  GEEAT  EVENTS  IN  HISTORY, 

From  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Present  Time,  by  John  Fkost,  LL.  D., 

800  illustrations,  muslin,  832  pp ,  8vo., 2  60 

Tdk  Same— embossed  morocco,  marble  edge, 8  00 

ANnQUmES  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK, 

With  an  Appendix  on  the  Antiquities  of  the  West,  by  Hon.  R  G.  Sqtjtkk, 
embellished  with  nearly  100  engravings,  small  By 0. 2  00 

THE  PHELPS  AND  GORHAM  PURCHASE, 

To  which  is  added  a  Supplement,  containing  the  History  of  Ontario,  Wayne, 
Livingston,  Yates  and  Allegany  Counties,  by  O.  Tubneb,  author  of  "The 
Holland  Purchase,"  683  pp.,  8vo., 2  00 

HISTORY  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO, 

From  the  commencement  of  hostilities  with  the  United  States,  to  the 
ratification  of  peace — embracing  detailed  accounts  of  the  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  Generals  Taylor,  Scott,  Worth,  Twiggs,  Kearney  and  others,  by 

JouN  S.  Jenkins,  20  illustrations,  muslin,  506  pp.,  large  12mo., 1  50 

Tin  Same— octavo  edition,  embossed  morocco,  marble  edge,  526  pp.,  2  00 

HISTORY  OF  THE  MORMONS, 

Or,  Latter  Day  Saints,  with  a  Memoir  of  Joe  Smith,  the  "  American  Ma- 
homet," 12  illustrations,  muslin,  899  pp.,  12mo., 1  20 

HISTORY  AND  CONDIHON  OF  OREGON, 

Including  a  Voyage  round  the  World,  by  Eev.  G.  Huns,  of  the  Oregon 
Mission  muslin,  437  pp.,  12mo I  28 

FROSTS  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

From  the  period  of  the  Conquest  by  Spain,  to  the  formation  of  a  State ; 
containing  an  account  of  the  Gold  Mines,  Resources,  and  Adventures 
among  the  Miners,  etc;  also  Advice  to  Emigrants:  colored  frontispiece 
and  other  illustrations,  muslin,  508  pp.,  12mo 160 

SIDNEYS  HISTORY  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

The  Three  Colonies  of  Australia,  New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  South  Aus- 
tralia, their  Pastures,  Copper  Miues  and  Gold  Fields,  by  Samitel  Sidnby, 
10  illustrations,  musUn,  408  pp.,  12mo 1  26 

PICTORIAL  FAMILY  ENCYCLOPEDIA, 

Of  History,  Biography  and  Travels,  comprising  prominent  Events  in  the 
History  of  the  World,  Biographies  of  Eminent  Men,  and  interesting  Ac- 
ct^unts  of  Distinguished  Travelers,  by  Joim  Fkost,  LL.  D.,  360  illustra- 
tions, muslin,  648  pp.,  8vo 2  00 

ThxSajib — embossed  morocco,  marble  edges,..; 2  50 


MILLER,  ORTON  <b  MULLIGAN  PUBLIBff- 

•TWELVE  YEAES  A  SLAVE, 

The  Narrative  of  Solomon  Nortiiup,  a  citizen  of  New- York  kidnapped 
in  Wasliington  City  in  1S41,  and  rescued  in  1858,  from  a  Cotton  Plantation 
near  tlie  Eed  Eiver,  in  Louisiana,  7  illustrations,  muslin,  83B  pp.,  12mo.. .    1  00 

♦WILD  SCENES  OF  A  HUNTER'S  LIFE, 

Including  Cummlngs'  Adventures  among  the  Lions,  Elephants  and  other 
wild  Animals  of  Africa,  by  John  Frost,  LL.  D,,  with  8  colored  and  300 
letter-press  illustrations,  muslin,  467  pp.,  12mo 1  60 

LIFE  ON  THE  PLAINS, 

And  among  the  Diggings,  being  Scenes  and  Adventures  of  an  Overland 
Journey  to  California,  Avith  particular  Incidents  of  the  Eoute,  Suflferings  of 
Emigrants,  Indian  Tribes,  &c,  by  A.  Delano,  illustrated,  884  pp.,  12mo.    1  26 

THE  AUSTRALIAN  CAPTIVE, 

Or,  Fifteen  Years'  Adventures  of  "William  Jackman,  Including  his  Resi- 
dence among  the  Cannibals  of  Nuyts'  Land,  with  portraits  and  other  illus- 
trations, edited  by  Kev.  I.  Chajibeklain,  muslin,  892  pp.,  12mo 1  S0 

FRONTIER  LIFE, 

Or  Scenes  and  Adventures  in  the  South-west,  by  F.  Habdman,  illustrated, 
musliu,  876  pp.,  12mo 1  26 

THMLLING  ADVENTURES, 

By  Land  and  Sea,  being  remarkable  Facts  fi"om  Authentic  Sources,  edited 

by  J.  O.  Bbatman,  illustrated,  muslin,  504  pp.,  12mo. 1  26 

DARINa  DEEDS  OF  AMERICAN  HEROES, 

With  Biographical  Sketches,  by  J.  O.  Bratman,  illustrated,  12mo.  460  pp.    1  26 

UFE  AT  THE  SOUTH, 

Being  Narratives,  Scenes,  and  Incidents  In  Slave  Life,  by  W.  L.  G.  Sjoth, 
illustrated,  muslin,  519  pp.,  12mo 1  26 

BORDER  WARS  OF  THE  WEST, 

Comprising  the  Frontier  Wars  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Tennessee  and  Wisconsin,  and  embracing  the  Individual 
Adventures  among  the  Indians,  and  Exploits  of  Boone,  Kenton,  Clark,  Lo- 
gan, and  other  Border  Heroes  of  the  West,  by  Professor  Frost,  800  illus- 
trations, muslin,  608  pp.,  muslin,  8vo 2  60 

WESTERN  SCENES, 

And  Keminisccncos,  together  with  thrilling  Legends  and  Traditions  of  the 

Eed  Man  of  the  Forest,  illustrated,  muslin,  8vo 2  00 


MILLER,  ORTON  &  MULLIGAN  PUBLISH 

•UFE  OF  HENEY  CLAY, 

Of  Kentucky,  by  Horace  Gkeelet  and  Ephs  Sabgeast,  with  portrait 

on  steel,  muslin,  42S  pp.,  12mo., 1  2C 

The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides, 2  35 

♦LIFE  AND  SPEECHES  OF  HENEY  CLAY, 

Being  the  above,  to  which  is  added  his  most  able  and  popular  Speechw, 
with  portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  fl33  pp.,  8vo 2  00 

•  UFE  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTEB, 

And  his  Master  Pieces,  by  B.  F.  Teftt,  D.  D.,  President  of  Genesee  Col- 
lege, with  portraits  and  other  illustrations,  muslin,  2  yola,  12mo.,  (in 
press,  ready  in  summer  of  1 S54,) 

LIFE  OF  GEOEGE  WASHINGTON, 

First  President  of  the  United  Stat«»,  by  Jabed  Sparks,  LL.  D.,  new  and 

fine  edition,  with  portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  674  pp.,  12mo 1  60 

The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  Bides, 2  BO 

•  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  JEFFEB60N, 

Second  President  of  the  United  States,  1^  Hkhbt  8.  Bans  all,  (in  prepa- 
ration,)   

LIVES  OF  JAMES  MADISON  AND  JAMES  MONEOE, 

Fourth  and  fifth  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  with  Historical  Notices 

of  their  Administrations,  by  J.  Q.  Adaub,  sheep,  482  pp.,  12mo 1  26 

LIFE  OF  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS, 

SLxth  President  of  the  United  States,  by  William  H.  Seward,  portrait 

on  steel,  muslin,  404  pp.,  l2nio. 1  25 

LIFE  OF  ANDEEW  JACKSON, 

Seventh  President  of  the  United  States,  including  his  raost  Important  State 
Papers,  and  Bancroft's  Eulogy,  by  John  S.  Jenkiks,  muslin,  897  pp.,  12ino.    1  25 

LIFE  OF  GEN.  WILLIAM  H.  HAEBISON, 

Ninth  President  of  the  United  States,  by  H.  M  )htgomeey,  portrait  en 
steel,  muslin,  466  pp.,  12mo. \  26 

UFE  OF  GEN.  ZACHAEY  TAYLOE, 

Twelfth  President  of  the  United  States,  by  H.  Montgomebt,  with  steel 

portrait  and  other  illustrations,  muslin,  463  pp.,  12mo 1  26 

The  Same — morocco,  marble  edge,  Svc, 1  75 

LIFE  OF  GEN.  FEANK  PIEECE, 

Fourteenth  President  of  the  United  States,  with  his  Inaugural  Address, 

by  D.  "W.  Baetlftt,  with  portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  804  pp.,  12mo. 75 

LIFE  OF  BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN, 

"Written  by  himself,  with  his  Miscellaneous  Essays,  portrait  on  steel,  mus- 
lin, 875  pp.,  12mo 1  26 


MILLER,  ORTON  d:  MULLIGAN  PUBLISH 

LIFE  OF  WINFIELD  SCOTT, 

By  E.  D,  Mansfield,  with  illustrations  and  maps,  muslin,  688  pp.,  12mo.    1  25 

LIFE  OF  LOUIS  KOSSUTH, 

Governor  of  Hungary,  including  Notices  of  the  Men  and  Scenes  of  the 
Hungarian  EcTolution,  and  his  principal  Speeches,  by  P.  0.  Headlby, 
with  Introduction  by  Hoeaoe  Geeelet,  steel  portrait,  muslin,  461  pp.  12mo.    1  25 

*LIFE  OF  DANIEL  BOONE, 

The  Pioneer  of  the  West,  by  "W.  H.  Bogaet,  with  portrait  and  other  illus- 
trations, muslin,  12mo.,  (in  press) 1  26 

LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON  BONAPAETE, 

Emperor  of  France,  by  J.  G.  Lockhaet,  steel  portrait,  muslin,  892  pp.  12mo.    1  25 
The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides,... 2  25 

*LIFE  OF  THE  EMFBESS  JOSEPHINE, 

First  Wife  of  Napoleon,  by  P.  C.  Headlet,  with  portrait  on  stoel,  muslin, 
883pp.,12mo 1  25 

The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gUt  sides,  ..^ 2  26 

♦  LIFE  OF  MAEY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS, 

By  P.  C.  Headlet,  portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  448  pp.,  12mo. 1  25 

LIFE  OF  EEV.  ADONIEAM  JUDSON, 

Of  the  Burman  Mission,  by  J.  Clement,  steel  portrait,  muslin,  886  pp.  12mo.    1  00 
The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides, 2  00 

LIVES  OF  THE  THREE  MRS.  JUDSONS, 

By  Arabella  M  Willson,  2  portraits  on  steel,  mnslin,  856  pp.,  12mo.,  . .    1  25 
The  Same — muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides, 2  00 

LIVES  OF  MAEY  AND  MARTHA  WASHINGTON, 

Mother  and  Wife  of  George  Washington,  by  Maegaeet  0.  Coitkung, 

portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  248  pp.,  16mo 84 

The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides, 1  50 

LIFE  OF  LADT  JANE  GBEY, 

By  D.  W.  Baetlett,  portrait  on  steel,  muslin,  298  pp.,  16mo.  1  00 

The  Same— muslin,  gilt  edges  and  full  gilt  sides, 1  75 

LIFE  OF  JOAN  OF  AEC, 

The  Maid  of  Orleans,  by  D.  W.  Baetlett,  portrait  on  steel,  221  pp.  16rao.       84 

GENERALS  OF  THE  LAST  WAS 

With  Great  Britain,  with  portraits  of  Generals  Jackson,  Brown,  Macomb, 
Scott,  Harrison  and  Gaines,  by  John  S.  Jexkins,  muslin,  40T  pp.,  12mo.,.    1  25 

LIVES  OF  EMINENT  METHODIST  MINISTERS, 

Containing  Biographical  Sketches,  Incidents,  Anecdotes,  Eecords  of  Travel, 
&c.,  by  Rev.  P.  Douglass  Gorbie,  with  Portraits  of  Kev.  John  Wesley, 
Kev.  J.  W.  Fletcher,  Kev.  Eichard  Watson,  Eev.  John  Emory,  Eev.  Ste- 
phen Olin;  muslin,  408  pp.,  12mo 1  25 


GENERAL  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or  on  the 

date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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JAN  5    1959 


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JUL  5    13^^ 
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